The National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) said today it is to work with Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin, Dublin, to see that patients who are on waiting lists for surgery will be seen quickly.
The announcement comes the day after the NTPF criticised the manner in which waiting lists are managed at the hospital.
In a statement this afternoon, the NTPF confirmed that 450 patients were agreed for treatment at Crumlin hopsital last year and said a similar volume of out-patients was also referred under the fund's initiative.
However, it said the hospital had not dealt with those waiting longest on lists promptly enough.
The NTPF said it will move to work directly with Crumlin to get children waiting the longest for operations treated quickly. It also said it intends to put in place an improved waiting list management system that complies with agreed national policy.
Earlier this week, NTPF's chief executive Pat O'Byrne told the Public Accounts Committee he was not happy with the level of engagement that the children’s hospital has had with the fund.
He said that as a result some children were waiting for treatment at the hospital when the treatment could be arranged privately for them by the NTPF.
Crumlin hospital yesterday rejected the criticism. It said the NTPF put a limit of 450 on treatment slots for the hospital in 2009 and that all slots were used. It added that the hospital remained fully committed to working with the fund.
