Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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597. To ask the Minister for Health if he will consider amending the criteria for people availing of the NPTF in order that anyone waiting in excess of six months can self-refer to a private hospital similar to people who opt for cross-border treatment. [6602/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) procures capacity for high-volume procedures in order to positively impact waiting time for patients. Such procedures may be procured in both private hospitals (outsourcing), or public hospitals (insourcing). In order to ensure competitive pricing as part of their outsourcing programme, the NTPF works with private hospitals from a panel agreement and engages in procurement processes through e-tender.

The NTPF works with the public hospitals, as opposed to with patients directly, to offer and provide the funding for treatment to clinically suitable long waiting patients who are on an inpatient/day case waiting list for surgery, having been referred on to such a list following clinical assessment by a consultant/specialist at an outpatient clinic. There is good clinical governance and oversight under the current NTPF model of arranging treatment, with the NTPF having oversight of the patient stage of the patient pathway and able intervene if a patient experiences undue delays.

The key criteria of the NTPF is the prioritisation of the longest waiting patients first. While the NTPF identifies patients eligible for NTPF treatment, it is solely on the basis of their time spent on the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List. The clinical suitability of the patient to avail of NTPF funded treatment is determined by the public hospital.

The availability of capacity for the specific procedure required by the patient is a factor in the selection of treatment provider, as well as the ability and willingness of the patient to travel to another hospital to avail of treatment. The public hospital will also advise if a patient has complex clinical needs and appropriate arrangements can be made to fit the patient profile to the appropriately skilled provider.

The Department will undertake some exploratory work with the NTPF in 2023 to consider whether there is some potential for self-referral in some of the more routine consultations / procedures, conscious that we must be continually vigilant about patient safety and clinical governance.

The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan identified 15 high volume procedures with a commitment that any one waiting over 6 months, who was clinically suitable, would receive an offer of treatment from the NTPF. The NTPF has advised that by 22 December it had authorised offers of treatment for 81% of those waiting over 6 months for one of the targeted procedures. This list will be expanded to 20 procedures for 2023. These 20 procedures accounted for 40% of the IPDC waiting list at the end of 2022.