Plan to address waiting lists published
Health Minister Michelle O’Neill has published an Elective Care Plan to address waiting times for planned treatments, care and diagnostics.
Publishing the Plan follows through on the commitment in ‘Health and Wellbeing 2026: Delivering Together’ which was launched in October.
The Plan has six commitments which encompass a number of actions designed to reform elective care services to meet current and future demand. A key commitment is to provide assessment, treatment and care to reduce the waiting lists backlog, while continuing the longer term process to transform secondary, primary and community care services.
“This Elective Care Plan is one of the first products to come out of ‘Delivering Together’ but it is not a stand-alone initiative, nor is it a plan set in stone. Its strategic commitments and actions must be seen within the broader context of my transformation programme and be taken forward alongside all of the other priorities identified if sustainable improvement is to be realised.
The Plan has six commitments that will:
1. Address waiting times – the Department’s clear aim is that, by March 2018, no-one should wait more than: 52 weeks for a first outpatient appointment and inpatient/day case treatment; and, 26 weeks for a diagnostics appointment.
2. Increase patient self-management services – to enable patients with long term conditions to manage their condition more effectively.
3. Expand capacity and capability in primary care – so patients can be appropriately managed locally, outside the secondary care setting.
4. Improve direct access between primary and secondary care – to enable more rapid access for patients to secondary care services.
5. Reform and modernise secondary care services – to meet patient demand to ensure that patients are seen at the right time, in the right place and by the right person.
6. Establish new models of provision such as regional Elective Care and Treatment Centres – to deliver large volumes of assessments and non-complex routine surgery across a broad range of specialties.
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The first stage requires a total of £31.2million, new non-recurrent revenue investment in 2017/18 to fund additional activity to clear, by March 2018, the backlog of patients waiting more than 52 weeks for a first outpatient appointment and inpatient/daycase at March 2017.
In addition the backlog of patients waiting more than 26 weeks at March 2017 for diagnostics will also be cleared by March 2018.
“We must invest in our HSC services if we want to deliver better outcomes for our population. The previous Executive endorsed this approach, and all the other parties agreed to take politics out of Health. Any incoming Executive needs to continue the transformation plan, including tackling waiting lists.
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