UL Hospitals Group Meets Targets on Inpatient and Day Case Waiting Lists
Outpatient waiting lists reduces by 20% in 2022; long waiters by 58%
UL Hospitals Group has met targets for inpatient, day case and endoscopy set out in the National Waiting List Action Plan 2022.
The national target for outpatient waiting lists has not been achieved; however considerable progress has been made this year in reducing the numbers waiting for appointments.
The €350 million national plan set out that 98% of patients waiting for an inpatient or day case procedure should be treated within 12 months and that 100% of patients waiting for their first gastrointestinal scope (GI scope) should be treated within 12 months.
These targets have been met across the six hospitals at UL Hospitals Group. The total number of patients waiting for inpatient or day case procedures has reduced from 8,229 in January 2022 to 5,873 on December 8th, a decrease of 29%. The number of patients waiting longer than 12 months for their inpatient or day case procedures has reduced over that time from 2,342 patients to zero.
The number of patients waiting longer than 13 weeks for endoscopy has reduced from 2,392 patients in January to less than 100 today and all patients are being offered their appointment within the 12 month target set out in the national plan. There are no patients waiting longer than the target 28 days for an urgent GI scope.
Under the national plan, the target for outpatients is that 98% will be seen within 18 months. At UL Hospitals Group, the total number of patients waiting for an outpatient appointment has reduced from 55,350 in January to 44,160 by December 8th, a decrease of 20%. Those waiting longer than 18 months for their first appointment have reduced from 20,449 to 11,902, a total reduction of 58%.
We have succeeded in reducing waiting lists this year, despite seeing higher emergency admissions than ever. That said, we accept our patients still wait too long for appointments and procedures and we are striving to improve this.
To meet the Action Plan targets, we have used private, virtual and extra out-of-hours clinics. We have also streamlined processes to make the most of valuable consultation time for patients.
We have also seen more patients and reduced lists (particularly for inpatients, day cases and endoscopy) by enacting five Action Plan initiatives:
- National Treatment Purchase Fund (covering over 3,400 surgical patients through both insourcing and outsourcing initiatives and over 4,400 outpatients)
- The Advanced Clinical Prioritisation (ACP) clinics in UHL and Ennis (over 10,000 virtual consultations so far in 2002)
- The Scheduled Care Transformation Programme (SCTP) (Over 10,700 have attended these clinics this year including virtual appointments, GI scopes, radiology and procedures)
- The Safety Net Agreement (SNA) initiative (private hospital care for 6,802 patients in up to the end of the initiative in September)
- Access to Care (additional support to patients, including inpatient and day cases).
John Doyle, Head of Scheduled Care, UL Hospitals Group, said: “I want to thank the clinicians, nursing, clerical and admin staff and the Scheduled Care Team for the excellent work they have done this year in meeting the national key performance indicators for inpatient and day case surgery and for endoscopy. They have also made significant progress in reducing our outpatient waiting lists and we look forward to continuing this work for our patients in 2023.”
Prof Colette Cowan, CEO, UL Hospitals Group, said: “Widespread reductions in scheduled care during the COVID-19 pandemic were a necessary part of the national emergency response but we also know these decisions increased distress for far too many patients who were already facing excessive waiting times.
I commend the teams at UL Hospitals Group who have worked so hard this year to reduce our waiting lists and who have so ably used the various programmes under the government plan to meet key national targets.
This government support is very welcome but it is acknowledged by all stakeholders that over-reliance on private hospitals is not sustainable in the long run, particularly in the MidWest where patients face travelling outside of the region for their care. We have expanded theatre capacity in Croom Orthopaedic Hospital and the upgrade of the theatres in Ennis as a centre for day surgery is at design stage.
While fewer people are waiting for day surgery, too many continue to wait for more complex inpatient surgeries. This underlines the case being made for a Scheduled Care Hub for patients in the Midwest. We note the inclusion of Limerick in the recent announcement of five surgical hubs by the Minister for Health. We will work with all stakeholders to best meet the needs of surgical patients in the MidWest.”