Written Answers Nos. 1520-1536
1520. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Health if the medical exam required for the purposes of a driver licence renewal for over 70 year olds is covered under the GMS scheme; if not, if he will confirm if there are plans to include same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38252/13]
View answer1584. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Health the reason the medical card does not cover the cost of a medical with a general practitioner for an over 70s drivers licence, particularly when the eye sight test is covered by the medical card for the same purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38744/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1520 and 1584 together.
Under the General Medical Services (GMS) contract, a general practitioner (GP) is expected to provide his/her patients who hold medical cards or GP visit cards with all proper and necessary treatment of a kind generally undertaken by a GP.
The contract between the HSE and GPs under the GMS Scheme stipulates that fees are not paid to GPs by the HSE in respect of certain medical certificates which may be required, for example, "under the Social Welfare Acts or for the purposes of insurance or assurance policies or for the issue of driving licences". There are no plans at present to amend the GMS contract in this regard.
Consultation fees charged by general practitioners to private patients and to GMS patients outside the terms of the GMS contract are a matter of private contract between the clinicians and the patients. While I have no role in relation to such fees, I would expect clinicians to have regard to the overall economic situation in setting their fees.
1521. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the position regarding cuts to St Michael's House (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38256/13]
View answerUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services, including disability services. The HSE either directly provides or contracts disability agencies such as St Michael House to provide a range of disability services through service level arrangements.
St Michael's House received over €70 million in 2012 in funding from the HSE to provide a range of services to approximately 1,660 children and adults with an intellectual disability in over 170 centres in the Greater Dublin Area and Navan Co. Meath.
The HSE and St Michael's House work in close collaboration with regard to the funding and delivery of services to people with an intellectual disability. As a voluntary agency, St Michael’s house are obliged to work within the resources available to them and in that regard have introduced significant efficiencies over recent years to remain within budget. The HSE has advised that these changes to date have not resulted in service contraction.
The Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) sets out measures relating to productivity, cost extraction and reform which together intends to achieve a required pay bill reduction of €150m identified in the HSE Service Plan 2013. The agreement provides a framework and opportunities for managers within the health services, including agencies such as St Michael's House, to reduce their costs associated with agency and overtime and a wide range of other pay costs, particularly through measures such as additional working hours and revised rates in respect of overtime.
The HSE has advised the Department of Health that the recent application of additional budget cuts under the HRA has presented a significant challenge to St Michael’s House. A process is now underway between the HSE and St Michael’s House to identify the impact of these budget reductions on services. The Department of Health has received assurances from the HSE that both organisations are committed to working within the terms of the HRA to ensure that services are impacted upon only as a measure of last resort.
In relation to the specific queries raised by the Deputy, as these are service issues they have been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
1522. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm that the orthopaedic surgery for children has ceased in Tallaght hospital, Dublin; if this means that the children's hospital at Tallaght is being downgraded; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38262/13]
View answerThe new children's hospital to be co-located with St James's Hospital on its campus will provide tertiary services for the country as a whole and secondary acute services for children in the Greater Dublin Area. The paediatric service at Tallaght Hospital will, along with Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin and Children's University Hospital Temple Street, move to the new hospital when it is built.
Bringing the three hospitals together follows on from the recommendation of the 2006 McKinsey report that Ireland can support only one world-class tertiary paediatric hospital.In advance of the move to the new hospital, I believe it is critically important that the three hospitals become operationally integrated. I have therefore established the Children's Hospital Group comprising the two hospitals and the Tallaght paediatric service, appointed Dr Jim Browne as Chair of the Children's Hospital Group Board, and last month appointed a further nine members to the Board. The CHGB will oversee the operational integration of the three existing paediatric hospitals in advance of the move to the new hospital.
In this regard, it will build on the cooperation and integration already underway among the three hospitals, which are working together as a paediatric network to provide the best possible outcomes for children. This includes transferring children from one hospital to another within the network where necessary for best outcomes. In this context, children requiring specialist orthopaedic treatment are transferred from Tallaght to Crumlin to avail of specialist paediatric care. This equates to 7% of children requiring access to paediatric orthopaedic services, with the vast majority (93%) of children attending Tallaght Hospital paediatric Emergency Department being treated and followed up in Tallaght. This does not represent any downgrading of the paediatric service at Tallaght, the staff of which will continue to play a vital role in the provision of paediatric acute services as part of the Children's Hospital Group and, ultimately, in the new children's hospital.
1523. Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Health his plans to have a health profession, that of nuclear medicine technologist, recognised by the State; the process of having such a health profession recognised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38268/13]
View answer1524. Deputy Damien English asked the Minister for Health the position regarding efforts to have a health qualification, namely that of nuclear medicine technology recognised by the State; the process of having such a health qualification recognised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38269/13]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1523 and 1524 together.
One of the requirements of statutory regulation of professions by the State is the possession of an approved qualification. In the absence of statutory regulation, persons are free to work without professional restriction in the State.
The Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 provides for the statutory regulation of twelve designated health and social care professions and my focus for the present time is to ensure the full regulation of these professions. The Act provides for further professions to be designated in the future and sets out factors to which the Minister should have regard such as:
(a ) the extent to which the profession has a defined scope of practice and applies a distinct body of knowledge;
(b ) the extent to which the profession has established itself, including whether there is at least one professional body representing a significant proportion of the profession’s practitioners;
(c ) the existence of defined routes of entry into the profession and of independently assessed entry qualifications;
(d ) the profession’s commitment to continuing professional development;
(e ) the degree of risk to the health, safety or welfare of the public from incompetent, unethical or impaired practice of the profession;
(f ) any other factor that the Minister considers relevant.
I have no plans to designate a new profession of nuclear medicine technologist under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005.
A process exists for the recognition of non-Irish health professional qualifications wherein they are assessed against the qualifications set for recruitment at basic grade in the relevant grade in the Health Service Executive. There is no grade of nuclear medicine technologist in the Health Service Executive and hence no recognition process is in place.
1525. Deputy Nicky McFadden asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken by the Health Service Executive to meet its childhood immunisation targets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38277/13]
View answerThe objective of the Primary Childhood Immunisation Programme is to achieve an immunisation uptake level of 95%, which is the rate recommended by the World Health Organization, required to provide population immunity and to protect children, and the population generally, from potentially serious vaccine preventable diseases.
Since 2011 Ireland has achieved the 95% update level for the 6 in 1 vaccination (Diphteria, Tetanus, Pertussis (whooping cough), Hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), Polio) which is the main constituent of the primary childhood immunisation programme. Figures for 2012 show an uptake rate of 96% achieved for these vaccines.
There are continuing improvements to the uptake rates for the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine, with 2012 reporting an uptake figure of 93%. The Health Service Executive continues a catch up programme for measles vaccination which was completed in secondary schools during the 2012/13 academic year and will commence in primary schools during the 2013/14 academic year. During this campaign the MMR vaccine will be offered to primary level students who have not completed their two dose MMR vaccination schedule.
The Health Service Executive have also reported that the 2011-2012 National Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine Campaign, which provides protection against the main viruses associated with cervical cancer, has been well received. HSE figures show that almost 86% of first year girls in second level schools have received their three vaccine doses, which exceeds the international target of 80%. The 2013/2014 Vaccination Campaign will, include a catch up programme for sixth year students who have not yet completed their three dose schedule.
1526. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will examine a medical card renewal application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38314/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.
1527. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38324/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.
1528. Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38334/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.
1529. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health his views on the 16% increase in prostate cancer among men during the past five years; the measures he will take to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38345/13]
View answerThe increase in prostate cancer among men in recent years arises from the ageing population, with increased risk of prostate cancer with age, and the increased use of Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) testing resulting in more diagnosis of early stage cancer, only some of which require immediate treatment.
The National Cancer Control Programme has established rapid access prostate cancer clinics in the eight designated cancer centres to ensure that men who have urological symptoms and/or abnormal PSA test results are seen in a timely way by urologists and that appropriate diagnostic tests are carried out and multi-disciplinary treatment is planned as necessary.
Last year 2,464 new patients were seen at the rapid access prostate cancer clinics and 1,031 (42%) of these were diagnosed with cancer.
1531. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry [38349/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.
1532. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry [38350/13]
View answerThe Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.
1533. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an application for a medical mattress in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12; and when a decision may be expected [38351/13]
View answerThe HSE is responsible for the administration of the primary care schemes, therefore, the matter has been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
1534. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Health if he supports the establishment of a forum on long-term residential care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38356/13]
View answerI refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question Number 674 of 28 May 2013. The position remains unchanged.
1535. Deputy Colm Keaveney asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Galway may expect to be called for a surgical procedure taking into account that they are on an emergency waiting list [38361/13]
View answerThe management of inpatient and daycase waiting lists for patients awaiting public health care is based on the principle that after urgent and cancer patients are treated, then clinically assessed routine patients should be seen in chronological order (i.e. longest waiter first).
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.
1536. Deputy Ciarán Lynch asked the Minister for Health the assistance available to a voluntary organisation (details supplied) in County Cork to provide training in the emergency services area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38364/13]
View answerMy Department administers a National Lottery Discretionary Fund from which once-off grants are paid to community and voluntary organisations, providing a range of health related services. The total annual allocation of this fund is €3.286m.
Based on the details supplied the proposal would appear to be a substantial construction project. On this basis it would be more appropriate for the HSE to consider its merit in the context of its delivery of Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Services. Therefore your query has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
