Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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652. To ask the Minister for Health the current waiting list for orthopaedics in Merlin Park University Hospital, Galway. [15971/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While significant work continues to positively impact on waiting times and improve pathways to elective care, acute hospitals have been impacted by operational challenges arising from surges in cases related to the Delta and Omicron variants.

The HSE has confirmed to the Department that patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically-aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.

The Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care, including through increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services, providing virtual clinics, and increasing capacity in the public hospital system.

€350m is being allocated in 2022 to the HSE and the NTPF to primarily provide additional public and private activity to further stabilise and reduce scheduled care waiting lists and waiting times in tandem with bringing forward much needed longer-term reforms. This will supplement the core activity of the HSE as detailed in the HSE National Service Plan (NSP) 2022.

The 2022 waiting list action plan, which the Minister for Health will bring to Government shortly, builds on the successes of the short-term 2021 plan that ran from September to December last year. The 2021 plan was developed by the Department of Health, the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and was driven and overseen by a senior governance group co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department and the CEO of the HSE and met fortnightly. This rigorous level of governance and scrutiny of waiting lists has continued into this year with the oversight group evolving into the Waiting List Task Force. It has produced a comprehensive 2022 waiting list action plan which will set out high-level targets for waiting list improvement including dedicated funding for service reform, patient pathway improvement, and important significant additionality to substantially reduce the backlog of patients waiting. The taskforce will meet regularly to drive progress of the 2022 plan.

This is the first stage of an ambitious Multi-Annual Waiting List Plan, which is currently under development in the Department. Between them, these plans will work to support short, medium, and long term initiatives to reduce waiting times and provide the activity needed in years to come.

In regard to the information requested by the Deputy, The National Treatment Purchase Fund has advised my Department, that they do not receive any extract files for Merlin Park Hospital. Data for Merlin Park is instead incorporated into the Galway University Hospital waiting list. In light of this, the NTPF have provided the requested waiting times data at Galway University Hospital. This information is outlined in the following link. This information is also available on the NTPF website at: www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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653. To ask the Minister for Health the reason that a person (details supplied) has been waiting over six years to be seen by orthopaedics in Merlin Park University Hospital Galway; and the immediate action that will be taken to address the damage caused. [15972/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.