Hospital waiting lists: €350m plan aims to clear backlog by end of year

A €350 million investment in hospital waiting lists will reduce them to their lowest level in five years, according to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.

Of 75,000 people currently waiting for inpatient and day-case procedures, the aim is to have “almost all” treated by the end of the year.

On Friday, Mr Donnelly launched the 2022 Waiting List Action Plan, the first of a “multi-annual” reform programme to “stabilise and reduce” waiting lists and waiting times in the health service.

The plan aims to treat 1.7 million patients this year; with a record 1.5 million people set to be added to waiting lists during the year, the anticipated reduction of 200,000 will bring waiting lists down to 2017 levels, the Minister expects.

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The plan covers “active” waiting lists for inpatient and day-case procedures, outpatient appointments and gastrointestinal scopes, but not other waiting lists for patients whose treatment is considered to be in hand.

There will be a particular focus on 15 high-volume inpatient and day-case procedures so that every person waiting for more than six months who is clinically ready will receive an offer of treatment, Mr Donnelly said. The list include cataracts, cystoscopies, hip replacements and knee replacements.

There will also be a focus on treating skin lesions, varicose veins, tonsillectomies and dental surgery.

Other areas of focus include angiograms, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, septoplasties, hysteroscopy, laparoscopy (gynaecology), total abdominal hysterectomy and inguinal hernia repair.

‘Difficult’ to achieve

Too many people are waiting for too long for healthcare in the public system, Mr Donnelly told a media briefing. While the goal is to build up capacity as quickly as possible, hundreds of thousands of people need quicker access to care now and “that’s what this plan is about”.

As much as possible of the investment will be progressed in the public system, said deputy director general at the Department of Health Dean Sullivan, but in some specialties this may be “difficult” to achieve.

Some €150 million of the €350 million is going to the National Treatment Purchase Fund.

At least half of the €150 million going to the fund is expected to be spent in the private sector.

Mr Donnelly said this €75 million had to be seen in the context of a €22 billion health budget. “I know some people in the Dáil say this is unacceptable, but should we not pay GPs, who are private, or dentists and pharmacists, or pharmaceutical companies, or private contractors who build hospitals?”

Asked how this plan to cut waiting lists would differ from previous ones, Mr Donnelly said the €350 million investment was higher than ever before. The plan is being driven from the highest levels, from the secretary general of the department down. It also embraces new innovations to improve the pathway of care for patients, such as a focus on advanced nurse practitioners.

High burnout

The NTPF funds hospitals, not individual consultants, its chief executive, Liam Sloyan, explained, though where consultants work overtime for the plan they can be paid overtime if provided for in their contract.

He declined to say how much the fund paid for specific procedures but said it operated a public procurement process.

Acknowledging high levels of exhaustion and burnout among staff, chief nursing officer Rachel Kenna said the plan would support the workforce by delivering an environment that allowed them to do the job they were employed to do, as well as delivering opportunities for career development.

Asked about the ongoing talks with hospital consultants about a new public-only contract, the Minister acknowledged there were “differing views” around the table but said he hoped to see them concluded quickly.