Written Answers Nos. 216 - 225
216. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Health the reason only one of the eight key recommendations of the Reach Out National Suicide Prevention Strategy has been implemented in full; when all the recommendations in the strategy will be fully implemented; the action he is taking to ensure that the Strategy is fully implemented without further delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44022/13]
View answerReach Out our National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention 2005-2014 comprises of four levels of action i.e. - general population approach; targeted approach; responding to suicide; and information and research. It contains 26 action areas and 96 recommendations.
The HSE's National Office for Suicide Prevention (NOSP) was established in 2005 on foot of a recommendation in Reach Out and its role is to oversee the implementation of Reach Out and to coordinate suicide prevention initiatives around the country. The NOSP is advised and guided by an advisory group comprising individuals with considerable knowledge and expertise in the areas of suicide prevention, mental health promotion and bereavement support.
Since 2011, funding for the NOSP has increased significantly from €4 million in 2011 to €7.9 million in 2013. This increase in funding along with the additional investment in mental health has led to work being progressed on almost every recommendation in Reach Out including the following actions:
- Supporting over 40 individual organisations and programmes both internal and external to the HSE. This increase in funding has focused on resourcing front line services for persons who are in emotional distress, who have engaged in self harm or who have been bereaved through suicide. Many of these services are being delivered by Non-Governmental Organisation sector with direct funding from the NOSP, i.e. Pieta House, Samartians and Console.
- Working to build the capacity of frontline services providers and communities to respond to suicide through the delivery of a number of suicide prevention training programmes i.e. over 42,000 participants have completed the ASSIT and safeTALK programmes. In addition, the NOSP has invested significantly in the development of Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) services across community mental health teams.
- The NOSP resourced the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) to implement a training programme on suicide prevention for GPs and general practice staff. International evidence highlights GP training in depression and the management of suicidal behaviour as critical to reducing suicide rates.
- The development of the National Clinical Care Programme for Self Harm in Emergency Departments and the SCAN (Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse) service.
- The delivery of two effective social marketing campaigns on mental health that have changed public attitudes and behaviours related to help seeking and mental health. The NOSP is also working to develop a new national communication strategy for suicide prevention.
- The NOSP is currently working with the Irish Association of Suicidology and other partners to develop national standards for service providers that will improve the quality and safety of funded services.
- The NOSP in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills launched the Well-Being in Post Primary Schools Guidelines for Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention. These guidelines have been distributed to schools and health services on a nationwide basis.
- The HSE is implementing the CIPC (Counselling in Primary Care) programme. This national service was launched in 2013 and is delivering counselling to medical card holders at a primary care level.
The NOSP publishes an Annual Report outlining its activities which is laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. The Annual Report for 2012 was published on 5 September 2013.
The NOSP has been reviewing its current activities to make the most of our available resources, including looking at best practice internationally to inform evidence-based policy decisions. The review will result in a new Framework which will build on work already undertaken under Reach Out. Its aim will be to support population health approaches and interventions that will assist in reducing the loss of life through suicide. This renewed focus will provide for improved coordination and integration of services to ensure that pathways of care for persons at risk of suicide or in suicidal crisis can be accessible, acceptable and available.
217. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Health the action he is taking to curb the growing numbers of persons on hospital waiting lists which have increased to 58,649 by August of this year when the number of persons waiting for gastrointestinal endoscopies is included; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44023/13]
View answerSignificant progress has been made on waiting times since July 2011, when the Special Delivery Unit (SDU) was established to tackle access to acute hospital services. The figures referred to in the Deputy's question concern August of this year. The overall waiting list growth trend experienced from January to July is now reversed in the August figures. There has been a 2% reduction in the total number of patients waiting for admission in August over July, and a 6% reduction in those waiting over 12 months.
For 2013, the target is that no adult should wait longer than eight months for an inpatient or daycase procedure. The number of those waiting over 8 months has reduced by 23% since August 2011. The SDU together with the NTPF and the HSE is now engaged in a national intervention strategy to work towards the 2013 maximum wait times. This involves working closely with hospitals to analyse performance, to agree action plans and extra support as necessary and to ensure hospital capacity is being optimised. All hospitals have now developed and commenced necessary action plans to achieve the national target of having no patients waiting longer than 8 months by the end of this year. Improving access to hospital services is a priority in the Programme for Government and we are committed to reaching the maximum wait times set for this year.
218. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Health the action he is taking to ensure that consultants stick to the terms of their contracts by working a maximum of 20% and in a few cases 30% in private practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44024/13]
View answerA central objective of the consultant contract is to improve access for public patients to public hospital services. The contract sets out clear rules on the mix of public-private practice that may be undertaken by consultants and measures to manage these rules by appointed clinical directors.
These include a total prohibition on consultants undertaking private practice (Type A contract holders) and a cap of 20% of private activity for newly appointed consultants (Type B) and a cap of up to 30% in the case of certain existing consultants.
The HSE has put a monitoring system in place to report on public/private activity as provided for in the contract and to inform any necessary follow-up actions in individual cases. Therefore I have referred the question to the Executive, who will respond directly to the Deputy in this regard.
219. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the reason an ambulance ran out of fuel while transferring a patient from Cork to Dublin for an urgent lung transplant (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44032/13]
View answerOn 19 September this year, an ambulance broke down near Dublin while transferring a patient from Cork for a transplant procedure. The patient, who was ambulant, completed the transfer in a second vehicle and successfully received the planned treatment.
The cause of the breakdown has been identified as a lack of fuel. The National Ambulance Service has commenced a full investigation of the incident, involving local management and HR in line with normal operating policy and procedures.
In view of patient and third party confidentiality, it is not proposed to comment further on the details of this incident, other than to state that any potential delay arising from the incident had no adverse clinical effect on the recipient or the outcome of the procedure.
220. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health his views on research (details supplied) regarding mental health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44033/13]
View answerAs Minister with responsibility for Mental Health, I fully appreciate the need to prioritise child and adolescent mental health services.
In 2012 and 2013, additional funding totalling €70 million was made available for the continued development of our mental health services. This is being used primarily to further strengthen community mental health teams for adults, children, older persons and mental health intellectual disability. Just over 890 posts were approved for this purpose. Of these, 150 posts from the 2012 funding, and 80 posts from the 2013 funding, were specifically targeted at enhancing Child and Adolescent Community Mental Health Teams. Despite delays in recruitment until 2013, as of 30 September 2013, the recruitment process was completed for approximately 110 of the 150 posts for Child and Adolescent Community Mental Health Team's in 2013 and a further 5 posts have accepted. As of the same date, approximately 30 posts have been accepted from the 80 posts provided from the 2012 additional allocation.
A significant proportion of the funding initiative announced in the recent Budget will also be directed at improving mental health for the young and on further enhanced suicide prevention measures, details will be outlined in the HSE National Service Plan for 2014.
In addition to HSE direct provision for Child and Adolescent Mental Health services, the Executive also funds various non-statutory agencies and significant work is being done, for example, by organisations such as Jigsawor through the See Change and Make a Ripple campaigns. These campaigns are aimed at overcoming the negative perception of mental health issues among young people.
Tackling the issue of bullying in schools is also a key objective of the Government. A new Action Plan on Bullying was launched last January by my colleagues the Minister for Education and Skills, and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, to help prevent bullying at both primary and secondary levels. In addition, the National Office for Suicide Prevention in partnership with the Department of Education and Skills has developed national guidelines on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention for the post primary school sector.
The Government is committed in progressing mental health well-being for young people, in line with evolving priorities and overall resources. In this context, research in this area is taken into account by the Department of Health and the HSE as appropriate in relation to advancing policies and service development.
221. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) in Dublin 9 was refused access to the Health Service Executive treatment abroad scheme although they cannot access the necessary treatment here. [44035/13]
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.
222. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Health the reason a family whose child underwent a variety of tests at a hospital (details supplied) in County Meath have not yet received results of those tests, if he will arrange for the results to be provided as soon as possible; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44040/13]
View answerI have been advised that the child in question became symptomatic on 20 August 2013 and was admitted to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital , Drogheda on 22 August 2013 and diagnosed positive with E. Coli 0157. The child was later transferred to Temple St Hospital and has since made a complete recovery.
As part of the HSE investigation, the child’s family was asked about the food it had consumed in the period prior to the onset of illness. A local food outlet was identified as the only place in which the family had eaten away from home. The outlet was inspected by the Environmental Health Service (EHS) of the HSE, which took 5 samples of food for microbiological analysis. The samples were submitted to the Public Health Laboratory on 2 September. The final laboratory reports for these samples were received on 12 September and all samples tested negative or absent for E. Coli and VT producing E. Coli.
The EHS also arranged for a water sample to be taken from the family home. This was submitted to the same laboratory on 19 September 2013. The final laboratory report was received on 25 September and the water tested negative for the presence of E. Coli
I understand that the HSE is making contact with the family to advise them of the test results.
224. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a gluten free diet in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Meath. [44048/13]
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.
225. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite a hospital appointment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44051/13]
View answerImproving access to outpatient services is a key priority for the Government. Collaborating with individual hospitals, the SDU, together with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) and the HSE, has developed the outpatient waiting list minimum dataset. This allows data to be submitted to the NTPF from hospitals on a weekly basis and, for the first time, outpatient data is available on www.ntpf.ie. For 2013, a maximum waiting time target has been set of 12 months for a first time consultant-led outpatient appointment and this is reflected in the HSE service plan. The SDU and the NTPF will work closely with hospitals towards achievement of the maximum waiting time.
Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she would be in the best position to take the matter up with the consultant and hospital involved. In relation to the specific hospital appointment query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
