Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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588. To ask the Minister for Health the number of patients currently on waiting lists for hospital appointments in hospitals (details supplied). [58712/21]

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 nineteen months as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently as a result of the ransomware attack. While significant progress was made in reducing waiting times from June 2020 onwards, the surge in Covid-19 cases in the first quarter of 2021 and the associated curtailment of acute hospital services, coupled with the ransomware attack of May 2021, has impacted waiting times.

The current surge in Covid-19 cases has put increasing pressures on hospitals and ICUs. As part of the response to this the HSE advised all Hospital Groups on 18th November, to take a series of immediate actions which include a 14 day period of prioritising unscheduled care, COVID care and time sensitive work in particular in Model 4 hospitals. The situation is to be reviewed after that period.

On the 7th October I published the Acute Waiting List Action Plan. This plan, to run until December 2021, has a series of targeted measures that are designed to address the growth in waiting lists caused by Covid-19 and the cyber-attack.

In addition, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are also working on a Multi Annual Waiting List Plan to bring waiting lists in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years. This process will be overseen by a Ministerial Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and includes representatives from the HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund. The plan will be informed by the lessons learned from the successful Vaccine Taskforce.

For 2022 an additional allocation of €250 million, comprised of €200 million to the HSE and €50 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund has been provided in respect of work to reduce hospital and community waiting lists. The €250 million will be used to fund additional activity in both the public and private sectors. The €50 million additional funding provided to the NTPF brings its total allocation for 2022 to €150 million, and as a consequence there will be a budget of €350 million available to support vital initiatives to improve access to acute hospitals and community health services.

The information requested by the Deputy, is outlined in the attached documents. The information set out in these documents shows the number of patients by hospital on the Inpatient & Daycase and Outpatient waiting lists. This information is also available on the NTPF website at: www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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589. To ask the Minister for Health the number of hospital appointments that were cancelled or postponed since January 2020 in hospitals (details supplied). [58713/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when elective procedures are cancelled, particularly for clinically urgent procedures. While every effort is made to avoid cancellation or postponement of planned procedures, the HSE has advised that planned procedures and operations can be postponed or cancelled for a variety of reasons including capacity issues due to increased scheduled and unscheduled care demand.

The current surge in Covid-19 cases has put increasing pressures on hospitals and ICUs. As part of the response to this the HSE has advised all Hospital Groups on 18 November to take a series of immediate actions which include a 14 day period of prioritising unscheduled care, COVID care and time sensitive work in particular in Model 4 hospitals. The situation is to be reviewed after that period.

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 National Waiting List Management Policy is a standardised approach used by the HSE to manage scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures. It sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists and was developed in 2014 to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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590. To ask the Minister for Health the total number of children currently on waiting lists for appointments, treatment, surgery or diagnosis for scoliosis by county and the length of time they have spent on the waiting lists. [58714/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Children with a range of needs rely on the orthopaedic service of Children’s Health Ireland (CHI). Scoliosis activity accounts for approximately 17% of inpatient orthopaedic activity across CHI. The complex patient needs of these children remains at the forefront of service provision.

Children’s Health Ireland continues to examine new and innovative ways to improve access to orthopaedic services. “Cappagh Kids” at the National Orthopaedic Hospital at Cappagh provides additional theatre capacity for non-complex, age appropriate, orthopaedic procedures, freeing up much needed space at central CHI sites for children with complex, multi-disciplinary needs. Additional orthopaedic outpatient sessions are also now held at Cappagh, providing additional capacity to see and assess children on the outpatient waiting list.

In addition, a fast-track orthopaedic pathway has been developed as part of outpatient reduction plans. Paediatric Active Clinical Triage has already been introduced for the longest waiters ( over12 months) on the paediatric outpatient list

Improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures remains a commitment of this Government. For 2022 an additional allocation of €250 million, comprised of €200 million to the HSE and €50 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund has been provided in respect of work to reduce hospital and community waiting lists. The €250 million will be used to fund additional activity in both the public and private sectors. The €50 million additional funding provided to the NTPF brings its total allocation for 2022 to €150 million, and as a consequence there will be a budget of €350 million available to support vital initiatives to improve access to acute hospitals and community health services.

In addition, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are also working on a Multi Annual Waiting List Plan to bring waiting lists in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years. This process will be overseen by a Ministerial Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and includes representatives from the HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund. The plan will be informed by the lessons learned from the successful Vaccine Taskforce.

In relation to the specific query raised by the Deputy regarding the number of children on waiting lists for appointments, treatment, surgery or diagnosis for scoliosis by county and the length of time they have spent on the waiting lists, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.