Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1626. To ask the Minister for Health the waiting time for all those waiting for bariatric surgery for three years or more, less than three years and less than 12 months by region in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18492/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The HSE is currently recommending that only critical time dependent elective procedures are undertaken at this time due to the on-going and significant increased demand for bed capacity related to COVID-19.

This decision was made arising from the rapid increase in Covid-19 admissions and to ensure patient safety and that all appropriate resources were made available for Covid-19 related activity and time-critical essential work.

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 HSE continues to optimise productivity through alternative work practices such as the use of alternative settings including private hospitals, community facilities and alternative outpatient settings.

On 23 March the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”. This plan outlines a three phased plan for the proposed restoration of services across Community Services, Acute Hospital Operations, Cancer Services and Screening Services. It sets target times for their safe return and details the conditions and challenges that will have to be met.

Every phase of the plan has been informed by clinical guidance and putting patient and staff safety first.

Decisions in relation to the type and volume of activity will be made at site level based on local COVID-19 numbers, available capacity and guidance from national clinical leads.

The schedule outlined in the plan for resumption of services will be regularly monitored by the HSE and updated as appropriate, dependant on public health advice and healthcare capacity.

The work of the HSE to improve access to elective care and reduce waiting times for patients is supported by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). This includes increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services where minor procedures are provided at the same time as outpatient consultations, funding hybrid services where public and private hospitals contribute to the treatment of patients, virtual clinics and clinical validation.

The Government’s Healthy Weight for Ireland: Obesity Policy and Action Plan is a 10-step multi-sectoral action plan. This action plan identified the requirement for access to Bariatric services to be strengthened so as to build a holistic and integrated system that can meet the growing needs across the population.

The HSE have advised the Department that the appointment of clinical leadership for Obesity is a key action under the Policy. The HSE established the Healthy Eating Active Living Policy Priority Programme in late 2016, and in 2017 the National Obesity Management Programme was set up by the HSE Health & Wellbeing Division. The primary objective of the HSE Obesity Management Programme is to improve access to services and quality of care for overweight people in Ireland. This will be achieved by developing integrated models of care that strengthen prevention, identification, early intervention and treatment for overweight and obesity across primary care and acute services for both children and adults.

€240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an access to care fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of measures taken in the context of COVID-19, as well as to address waiting lists.

The latest waiting list figures provided to my Department by the NTPF show that there are currently 154 patients waiting for bariatric surgery/procedure. The bariatric IPDC waiting list is outlined in the attached document. Due to the small volume of patients waiting, Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) measures have bee applied, and in order to preserve patient confidentiality the data has been provided by Hospital group rather than by region.