Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 April 2026
847. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department is satisfied that current data collection practices for outpatient non-attendance are robust, standardised, and free from retrospective reclassification. [28187/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe standardised process for the administrative waiting list management of non-attendance, otherwise known as Did Not Attends (DNA), is set out in Section 7.2 of the OP Waiting List Management Protocol 2022 as published by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF).
National Waiting List Protocols provide guidance to hospital staff working in scheduled care or waiting list management to enable a consistent, standardised and user-friendly approach to the active management and scheduling of patients awaiting access to care.
The protocol is supported by the NTPF National Outpatient Waiting List Minimum Data Set (MDS) which sets out the waiting list reporting requirements to ensure the data the NTPF receive from hospitals is provided in a clear and consistent format. The Outpatient MDS sets out the reporting requirements for DNAs. The NTPF Data Completeness and Data Quality (DCDQ) programme monitors DNA dates and reports are sent to each hospital with details of patient DNAs to assist with patient management in line with the process set out in the OP Waiting List Management Protocol.
