Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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307. To ask the Minister for Health the way that waiting lists compare now to the situation prior to the pandemic at the Mater, Beaumont, Cappagh, Temple Street and Blanchardstown; and the way that the waiting list initiative and winter bed initiative will impact on these services. [57187/22]

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 are still impacted by operational challenges arising from the pandemic.

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.

The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan allocates €350 million to the HSE and NTPF to reduce waiting lists. Under this plan the Department, HSE, and NTPF will deliver urgent additional capacity for the treatment of patients, as well as investing in longer term reforms to bring sustained reductions in waiting lists.

For 2023, funding of €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists. This includes:

- €123 million in funding for delivery of the HSE Waiting List Action Plan, including priority areas such as Obesity/Bariatrics, Spina Bifida/Scoliosis and Gynaecology, as well as progressing longer-term reforms to sustainably enhance capacity. Other actions in the Action Plan will streamline and reconfigure care pathways.

- €150 million for the NTPF to procure additional capacity to reduce waiting lists.

- €90m for additional short-term measures to address acute scheduled care waiting list backlogs.

The HSE Winter Plan for 2022-23 was published on the 11th of October. The Plan will support acute and community services this winter to respond to anticipated high levels of emergency attendances and admissions across the acute sector, long waiting times in EDs and high occupancy rates across acute hospital settings. The plan is estimated to cost up to €169m to implement.

The Winter Plan adopts a bottom-up approach with bespoke local plans that seek to address hospital specific issues in conjunction with Community Healthcare Organisations.

The measures include:

- the recruitment of 51 emergency medicine consultants and associated support staff. This will represent an increase of just under 50% in the number of emergency medicine consultants in the HSE;

- the overall recruitment requirement in the Winter Plan is for 608 WTEs;

- increased Community Intervention teams, and GP Support and OOH services to reduce the need for attendances at EDs;

- increased community services for mental health, disability and palliative care;

- increased community and acute diagnostics;

- expansion of ambulances services, including completion of implementation of nine Pathfinder teams, and deployment of rapid handover teams to improve ambulance turnaround times; and

- a fund to support local site-specific initiatives.

I have attached a document detailing site specific actions in the Winter Plan for the relevant hospitals mentioned by the Deputy.

Details of waiting lists at The Mater, Beaumont, Cappagh, Temple Street and Blanchardstown hospitals, now and prior to the pandemic are outlined in the attached document.