NTPF Waiting List figures for the month of June demonstrated the continuing demands for care in our acute hospitals and underlined progress achieved through the multi-annual action plan approach implemented by Government to address rising waiting lists and long wait times, according to the Department of Health.
“The latest hospital activity report published by the HSE also shows increased levels of activity in the delivery of scheduled and unscheduled care in acute hospitals.
“With the publication of the June figures the NTPF released the latest version of its Enhanced Reporting tool for Waiting List reporting which incorporates a number of improvements, including improved navigation and full support for all screen sizes. The NTPF will continue to improve and enhance this tool as it introduces international best practice reporting that will provide waiting time information in addition to existing waiting list information”.
The Department said the June figures showed that there had been significant reductions in the number of patients waiting longest. There has been a c.34% reduction in the total number of patients waiting over 18 months since this time last year.
“Improvements in terms of the length of time patients are waiting can also be seen in progress towards Sláintecare targets. Since the pandemic peaks, there has been a c.24% reduction in the number of people waiting longer than the Sláintecare targets, which equates to approximately 152,000 people. There are now 475,407 people waiting longer than the 10- and 12- week targets, while 236,392 people are waiting within the target times.”
The Department said that as at the end of June 2024:
- 52,629 people were exceeding the 12-week Inpatient / Day Case Procedure (IPDC) target which was a slight decrease of 17 people in total compared to the end of last month and a c.1% increase in comparison to the end of June 2023.
- 9,910 people were exceeding the 12-week Gastrointestinal (GI) Scope target which was a c.4% increase compared to the end of the previous month and a c.7% decrease compared to the end of June 2023.
- 412,868 people were exceeding the 10-week Outpatient Department (OPD) target, which was an increase of c.1% compared to the previous month. However, this iwa a decrease of c.4% in comparison to the end of June 2023.
“There have also been improvements in average waiting times, which have reduced by 1.6 months in comparison with last year. OPD has reduced by 1.8 months. IPDC reduced by 0.9 months and GI Scope reduced by 0.1 months.
“However, while we have seen improvements in the longer waiting patients and in terms of average waiting times, unfortunately higher than anticipated levels of additions to waiting lists has resulted in the volume of patients waiting across lists remaining too high. At the end of June, there were 711,799 people on the total hospital waiting lists. In the last year, although there have been slight decreases in the OPD and GI Scope waiting lists, the total waiting list has increased by under 1% (4,411). Removals from the waiting list are 0.4k higher than target, however, additions are also c. 27.5k higher than projected; this has resulted in the waiting list being c.25.3k above target year to-date.
“While the higher than targeted level of removals were offset by higher than anticipated additions to waiting lists, the high number of removals are reflective of the increased levels of activity being achieved in the delivery of scheduled care in acute hospitals. The latest hospital activity report published by the HSE for April 2023 to March 2024 gives insight into acute activity levels, with millions of patients being seen and treated annually within our hospital service. The report outlines that there were c.3.7 million outpatient and c.1.9 million Inpatient and Day Case attendances during the period covered by the report. In comparison with the levels of activity delivered in the full year 2022, these figures represent increases of c.7% and c.8% respectively. In addition to this planned (‘scheduled’) care, our hospital system also treated c.1.7 million patients during this same period in emergency (‘unscheduled’) care, which represents a c.5% increase on the full year 2022 and reflects the continuing demands on our hospitals.
“The volume of increased additions was identified as a risk as part of Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP) 2024, and whilst the projections for this year considered the experience in previous years, it was acknowledged that uncertainty remained. The HSE has attributed the increases in waiting list additions to both demographic (for example: population growth, aging population) and non-demographic challenges (for example: increased awareness of services, new service developments, chronic disease and pent-up demand post COVID-19 pandemic). Increased pressure in Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC), can impact on the availability of access to scheduled care. Both the HSE and the Department are monitoring these activity metrics and the associated targets from the 2024 WLAP.
“Despite the significant challenges from the aftermath of the pandemic, Emergency Department pressures and other operational factors such as recruitment, our hospitals have delivered improvements which are making a real difference to patients. Many individual hospitals have delivered impressive reductions in both their waiting lists and waiting times.
“For example, in Tallaght University Hospital, the GI Scope Gastro Enterology waiting list has decreased by 33% to the end of May and an additional 473 patients have been seen. In Galway University Hospital, an obesity initiative through the Croí Clann behaviour modification programme committed to delivering 270 volumes annually. The impact of this capacity initiative has meant an additional 90 patients were seen and the endocrinology OPD waiting list reduced by 54% to the end of May. Also, initiatives delivering additional midweek theatre sessions committed to seeing 521 patients in 2024 in Cork University Maternity Hospital. An additional 325 patients have been seen and the IPDC Gynaecology waiting list has reduced by 23% year to end of May. The HSE is currently working to replicate the impact of these initiatives across all hospitals.
“Funding of €437 million has been allocated to address waiting lists in 2024. A total of €360 million of this funding has been provided for the 2024 WLAP, which includes €179 million for the NTPF. Funding of €77 million has also been allocated for primary care/community-based initiatives. This includes €3 million specifically to address waiting lists in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), which is a priority for the Minister for Health in 2024.
“The 2024 WLAP includes a number of actions and initiatives aimed at reforming scheduled care, including the further rollout of Modernised Care Pathways; continued focus in addressing waiting lists for paediatric orthopaedics (spina bifida/scoliosis) and gynaecology; enhancing theatre optimisation; as well as implementing a number of enhanced productivity and efficiency measures for waiting list management, including the broader rollout of Patient Initiated Reviews (PIR) and Central Referrals. As part of its progress update in June, the HSE has advised that activities (i.e. OPD, IPDC, etc) for gynaecology, the overweight and obesity pathway and paediatric orthopaedics (scoliosis and spina bifida) are broadly in line with or ahead of the targets set out in the WLAP.
“The 2024 WLAP aims to achieve an almost 6% reduction in the overall number of patients on waiting lists, an increase on the 2.7% reduction achieved last year. With the 2024 WLAP, the Department of Health, the HSE and the NTPF are taking the next steps in the multi-annual approach, including implementing Sláintecare targets through reducing the number of patients breaching the Sláintecare Wait Time Targets as of year-end 2023 by 10% and facilitating timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, for everyone, where and when they need it. “
