Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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564. To ask the Minister for Health the progress made to the average wait time for dermatology patients as part of the Waiting List Action Plan 2024; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22728/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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It is acknowledged that many patients are still waiting too long for hospital appointments and treatments. I am conscious of the burden this places on patients and their families.

A multi-annual approach through a series of Waiting List Action Plans has been adopted to address this issue. Commencing in late 2021, these plans encompass short-term actions to increase capacity and activity in the short and immediate term, and longer-term reform measures to sustainably reduce both hospital waiting lists and waiting times.

This approach has achieved significant progress in overall waiting list reduction and in addressing long waiting times, against a backdrop of significantly increased demand for scheduled care services

In the 2024 Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP), Dermatology was specifically targeted as one of three specialties with long standing lengthy outpatient waiting lists . There was particular focus on improving dermatology capacity through modernised care pathways and other reform enablers utilised by the HSE to drive the most effective use of available resources in a patient centred way including Central Referrals and Patient Initiated Reviews.

There was an 11% increase in the number of patients attending outpatient appointments between December 2023 and 2024; however, this increase in activity was offset by increased referrals onto the waiting list. While this contributed to an increase of over 8% in the total number of outpatients waiting by the end of 2024, the mean weighted average waiting time over that period has remained consistent at just over 8 months. Priority focus on dermatology continues into the 2025 WLAP.

Funding of €420m is being allocated to the Waiting List Action Plan for 2025. The investment clearly demonstrates the Government’s ongoing commitment to sustainably reducing and reforming hospital waiting lists and waiting times with a specific target to reduce average waited waiting times to 5.5 months. With this significant funding for 2025, we will continue to progress towards a having a public healthcare service in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it.