Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 June 2023
745. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health the progress or otherwise that has been made on orthopaedic waiting lists at UHK since June 2022; if a breakdown of numbers will be provided, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31266/23]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for many scheduled appointments and procedures were too long before and have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. 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. On the 7th March, I published the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, which is the next stage of a new multi-annual approach to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists, and builds on the foundational work done through the short-term Waiting List Action Plan between September and December 2021, which was followed by the first full year Waiting List Action Plan for 2022, both having reversed the annual trend of rising waiting lists.
The 2023 Plan sets out the priorities to continue to address waiting lists this year. The 30 actions in the Plan, which are governed by the Waiting List Task Force, focus on delivering capacity, reforming scheduled care and enabling scheduled care reform.
For 2023, funding totalling €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists with €363 million of this being allocated to the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, to implement longer term reforms and provide additional public and private activity to clear backlogs exacerbated during the pandemic. This will reduce hospital waiting lists by 10% in 2023 as well as continuing to significantly reduce waiting times in line with Sláintecare recommendations. The remaining €80 million of the €443 million is being targeted at various measures to alleviate community/primary care waiting lists.
With this ambitious 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are taking the next steps in the multi-annual approach towards achieving our vision of a world-class public healthcare system in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it, in line with Sláintecare reforms.
The information requested by the Deputy concerning orthopaedic waiting lists at University Hospital Kerry is outlined in the attached document. The most recent published data shows waiting lists at the end of May 2023, and the tables in the attached document show the comparison with figures for May 2022. The total outpatient orthopaedic waiting list has decreased by 36% year on year, with reductions of 93% and 98% in the 12-18 month and over 18-month cohorts respectively. The total inpatient/daydase orthopaedic waiting list has decreased by 60% in the same period, with only 2 patients currently waiting more than 6 months.
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University Hospital Kerry Orthopaedic IPDC Waiting List YoY comparison |
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0-6 Mths |
6-12 Mths |
12-18 Mths |
18+ Mths |
Grand Total |
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May-22 |
65 |
55 |
38 |
18 |
176 |
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May-23 |
69 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
71 |
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Difference |
4 |
-53 |
-38 |
-18 |
-105 |
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% Difference |
6% |
-96% |
-100% |
-100% |
-60% |
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University Hospital Kerry Orthopaedic OPD Waiting List YoY comparison |
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0-6 Mths |
6-12 Mths |
12-18 Mths |
18+ Mths |
Grand Total |
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May-22 |
815 |
615 |
405 |
189 |
2,024 |
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May-23 |
883 |
379 |
28 |
4 |
1,294 |
|
Difference |
68 |
-236 |
-377 |
-185 |
-730 |
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% Difference |
8% |
-38% |
-93% |
-98% |
-36% |
