Written Answers Nos. 257-268
257. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health the position regarding previously announced plans for the Maternity Hospital at Tallaght Hospital, Dublin, if he will give assurances to the community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53554/12]
View answerA comprehensive review of maternity and gynaecology services in the greater Dublin area was completed in 2008. The 2008 KPMG Independent Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area report noted ‘it is well recognised that for optimal clinical outcome, maternity services should be co-located with adult acute services, or in the case of neonatology and fetal medicine tri-located with adult and paediatric services’. The report noted that Dublin’s model of stand alone maternity hospitals is not the norm internationally and recommended that the Dublin maternity hospitals should be co-located with adult acute services and that one of the three new Dublin maternity facilities should be built on the site of the new national paediatric hospital. Maternity and paediatric service co-location has advantages for infants with congenital malformations, for fetal medicine or complications which require neonatal surgery. Maternity and adult service co-location has advantages for mothers in providing on-campus rapid and ready access to non-obstetric specialist expertise, and to specialist surgery and intensive care in the case of major obstetric emergency.
In this context the proposal in 2008 was that the National Maternity Hospital be relocated to St Vincent's Hospital, the Coombe to Tallaght Hospital and the Rotunda to the Mater Hospital, and the maternity hospitals have been working with the relevant adult sites to progress this.
Recently the Government made the decision to build the new national children’s hospital on the St James’s campus. Given the need to plan for the provision of maternity services along with paediatric and adult services on the site selected for the new children's hospital, there will be early discussions with the Dublin maternity hospitals regarding their maternity /adult co-location plans. My Department will engage in discussion with the Coombe Hospital in relation to co-location plans in the near future.
258. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health his views on the notified proposed reduction in clinical sessions at the satellite drugs clinics in Tallaght, Dublin 24; if he will understand the concerns of the projects in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53557/12]
View answerI understand that the Deputy is referring to the review and reconfiguration of nursing services in the Addiction Services in the HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster region. I am advised by the HSE that the provision of nursing services in drug treatment centres will not change under the new arrangements. However, access to nursing services in satellite drug clinics which deal with smaller numbers and cater for those whose drug use has stabilised, will be determined through referral from the clinic doctor. An appointment system will be managed by nurse management. In this way the needs of the service users attending satellite clinics will be accommodated and they will not be compromised clinically by this change. The arrangements put in place by the HSE would appear to be reasonable in the circumstances.
259. Deputy Peter Mathews asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that a effective patient transport is provided in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 16; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53623/12]
View answerThe cost to the health service of providing non-emergency patient transport, in particular for patients going to outpatient (OPD) appointments, has escalated in recent years. As the HSE has no statutory obligation to provide patient transport, other than emergency transport, non-essential transport provision has been identified for budgetary control. Accordingly, criteria have been revised considerably and a uniform approach to providing such transport is being rolled out across the health regions.
In general, patients are expected to make their own way to and from hospital and OPD appointments, using private or scheduled public transport. The exceptions are for patients whose appointments are directly related to dialysis, radiotherapy and chemotherapy or post-operative transplant treatment. Transport may also be provided where, in the clinician's view, the patient would be unable to make the journey without clinical assistance or where the patient must be transported on a stretcher.
Where transport has been withdrawn, having previously been provided, this may be as a result of the Local Health Office (LHO) beginning to implement the national criteria. If a patient feels there is a genuine case for provision, then they should approach the LHO and their clinician should make a clinical case for it.
Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the Department of Social Protection may make a single payment to help meet exceptional expenditure which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. These payments are known as Exceptional Needs Payments (ENPs). The amount paid, if any, is assessed by that department on a case by case basis. ere is no automatic entitlement to such payments and the fact that a person is dependent on a social welfare or HSE payment does not necessarily mean that they will qualify for an ENP.
As this question relates to a query about an individual and is, therefore, an operational mater for the HSE, it has been forwarded to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy
261. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the numbers on waiting lists in respect of assessment and treatment for speech and language therapy, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy with a breakdown by therapy and by duration on the waiting list and by area and by age category [53635/12]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
262. Deputy Heather Humphreys asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm the percentage of poultry produce used in meals for hospitals that is of Irish origin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53641/12]
View answerThe management of hospital services generally, is a matter for the Health Service Executive and the individual hospitals concerned. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular case raised by the Deputy. My Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to make enquiries as to the provenance of the poultry used in hospital meals and reply directly to the Deputy.
263. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Monaghan will receive an appointment for a consultation with an orthopaedic surgeon at Our Lady's Hospital, Navan, County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53646/12]
View answerImproving access to outpatient services is the next priority for the Government. Building on work already undertaken by the HSE, the NTPF has now taken over the reporting of outpatient waiting time data. The collation and analysis of outpatient waiting time data in a standardised format will reveal the distribution of long waiters across all hospitals. In the first instance, this will allow the SDU and NTPF to target their resources towards those patients who are waiting longest and ensure that they are seen and assessed. A maximum waiting time target has now been set of 12 months for a first time outpatient appointment by 30 November 2013.
In parallel with reducing the numbers of longest waiters, the SDU will also work with the HSE Clinical Programmes to reform the structure, organisation and delivery of outpatient services to ensure that the right patient is seen and assessed by the right health professional at the right time.
Should the patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he/she would be in the best position to take the matter up with the consultant and hospital involved.
In relation to the specific query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
264. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if extra home help will be provided in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if respite will be arranged. [53647/12]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
265. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if the home help arrangement which is now in place in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be continued; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53650/12]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
266. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if an appeal relative to an application under the fair deal scheme in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny will be expedited and approved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53651/12]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
267. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if increased home support hours and respite at night will be provided in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53654/12]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
268. Deputy Seán Kyne asked the Minister for Health if the criteria pertaining to the motorised transport grant will be re-examined with a view to permitting applications from parents of children with mobility limiting conditions particularly in view of the fact that the grant guards against social exclusion and is particularly relevant and necessary for more rural areas which do not have the same access to public transport. [53670/12]
View answerI wish to inform the Deputy that there are no proposals to expand the qualifying criteria for the motorised transport grant.
