Progress in reducing surgery waiting lists ‘significantly affected’ by Covid – Reid

Progress in reducing waiting lists for surgery has been "significantly affected" by Covid-19, with limited capacity to tackle the issue by recourse to private care due to pandemic pressures, an Oireachtas committee will be told on Wednesday.

Health Service Executive chief executive Paul Reid will tell the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday there have been marginal improvements in waiting lists for outpatients and for gastrointestinal scopes – reductions of 1,819 and 12,450 respectively.

However, he will say that progress on in-patient/day-case waiting lists has been significantly affected by cancellation of electives due to Covid-19 and emergency department pressures, which has resulted in a small reduction from 74,896 to 74,692. The target for the end of the year, which was set in October, is 69,822.

The other two waiting list categories are on track to meet their targets. “A significant focus is being placed on using private hospital capacity to deal with these waiting lists. However, public hospitals are also relying on access to private hospitals to support emergency workload pressures.”

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Echoing warnings Mr Reid has delivered in recent days on the pressures being felt in the hospital system amid high numbers of Covid hospitalisations, he will tell the committee that “the entire health system, both acute hospitals and community, are now under very serious pressure”.

“It has also been necessary for the HSE to take immediate measures in response to hospital and ICU pressures, including the short-term prioritisation of unscheduled care, and increasing our surge capacity through providing additional beds, particularly in ICU.”

The usual winter pressures are being “further compounded by the massive increase in Covid-19 infections we are currently experiencing, and the resulting presentations in our emergency departments and onward into our wards and, critically, our intensive care units”.

A total of €77 million has been provided by the Government to support winter plan initiatives, he will tell the committee, with an emphasis on hospital avoidance and working with the GP network.