Pat Deering
Question:757. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Health the maximum time a 15 year old secondary school student with a medical card should have to wait to have their tonsils removed. [22410/14]
View answerHospital Waiting Lists
Questions (757)
Written answers
The National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2013, has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has been adopted by the Health Service Executive, sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists.
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 query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
Special Educational Needs Service Provision
Questions (758)
Terence Flanagan
Question:758. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health if a child (details supplied) in Dublin 5 will be provided with additional therapy support when they attend secondary school; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22412/14]
View answerWritten answers
As the particular issue raised by the Deputy relates to an individual case, this is a service matter for the Health Service Executive. Accordingly, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.
Hospital Services
Questions (759)
Seán Fleming
Question:759. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Carlow will be transferred to another hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22424/14]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
Nursing Homes Support Scheme Applications
Questions (760)
Éamon Ó Cuív
Question:760. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health when a decision will be made on an application under the nursing home support scheme in respect of a person (details supplied); when it will be put into payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22428/14]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
Medical Card Applications
Questions (761)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:761. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a full medical card in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry. [22433/14]
View answerWritten answers
The 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.
Hospital Complaints Procedures
Questions (762)
Brendan Griffin
Question:762. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if he will investigate the care provided to a person (details supplied) in Cork University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22434/14]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to address the specific issues raised and reply directly to the Deputy.
The Deputy may be interested to note that the HSE has in place a formal policy and procedures on complaints/comments and it is open to any HSE service user to comment, compliment or complain about any of the services provided by the HSE. Details of “Your Service Your Say”, are available on the HSE website, at http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/yourhealthservice/feedback/complaints/.
Nursing Homes Support Scheme Applications
Questions (763)
Robert Troy
Question:763. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure an application for the fair deal scheme is approved without further delay in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath. [22435/14]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.
Medical Card Applications
Questions (764)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:764. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Kerry. [22439/14]
View answerWritten answers
The 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.
Health Services
Questions (765)
Finian McGrath
Question:765. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health the position regarding financial help in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22478/14]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
Health Insurance Cover
Questions (766, 767)
Paudie Coffey
Question:766. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that health insurance companies are not covering the cost of drugs that are approved by the Health Service Executive on the NCCP (details supplied); if health insurance companies are allowed to act in this way; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22487/14]
View answerPaudie Coffey
Question:767. Deputy Paudie Coffey asked the Minister for Health if health insurance companies are required to cover the cost of all drugs and treatments that are available on the public health service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22488/14]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 766 and 767 together.
Minimum Benefit Regulations, made under the Health Insurance Acts, require insurers to offer a minimum benefit to every insured person. The regulations help to ensure that consumers obtain a minimum level of health insurance cover regardless of what plan they purchase. At present, the minimum benefits cover access to a semi-private room in a public hospital, including in-patient consultant fees, and a wide range of acute treatments. This represents the minimum level of cover that must be offered to every insured person. While I have sympathy for patients who find that certain drugs are not covered, it is not the role of the Minister for Health to direct private health insurers as to which services or facilities they cover. This is a commercial decision for the insurers themselves.
Cover for medical expenses under a customer's health insurance contract is a private contractual matter between the customer and the insurer. If the customer is not satisfied with any decision made by an insurer relating to the benefits payable under their contract, they should first discuss it with the insurer concerned. However, if the customer remains dissatisfied with the insurer's response, they may contact the Financial Services Ombudsman. The Financial Services Ombudsman is a statutory officer who deals independently with unresolved complaints from consumers about their individual dealings with all financial service providers, including health insurers. The service is provided free of charge to the complainant. The decision of the Financial Services Ombudsman is binding on all parties unless the decision is appealed to the High Court. Customers also have rights of access to the courts in disputes with insurers.
Medical Card Applications
Questions (768)
Billy Kelleher
Question:768. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will review the situation of medical cards being withdrawn from persons when their application is still being processed (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22505/14]
View answerWritten answers
The 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.
Health Screening Programmes
Questions (769)
Billy Kelleher
Question:769. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a situation (details supplied) where some babies are not receiving their doctor developmental check due to cutbacks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22506/14]
View answerWritten answers
Senior management in the HSE are aware of this issue and have sought a detailed action plan from the local management and are then monitoring this on a monthly basis.
A series of measures have already been undertaken over the last 2 years to bring Galway/Roscommon PCCC from a very low base of 14% up to the 82.4% in Roscommon and 90% in Galway for March 2014. The following are the additionally recently agreed actions to bring the levels up to the 95% KPI.
Actions to Achieve Child Developmental KPIs in Galway & Roscommon:
- Medical Capacity to meet the Child Developmental 9 month reviews has been confirmed;
- An agreed procedure for prompt informing of PHN where children transfer in from another PHN area so they can be called within the stipulated timeframe to a child developmental clinic has been put in place;
- A manual count babies records seen between end of the previous month and the date they turn 10 months is occurring pending implementation of software solution to compensate for an identified I.T. problem which has led to under recording of attendance;
- The process for calling children by PHNs is being realigned to ensure children of 7-9 months are called as a priority;
- Children in Galway/Roscommon are to be invited from 7 months to attend screening checks by PHNs to ensure adequate time for recall within the agreed schedule allowing for the possibility of 2 DNAs as per policy.
Hospital Procedures
Questions (770)
Martin Ferris
Question:770. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a person (details supplied) in County Limerick who only has sight in one eye has been waiting since 23 May 2013 for an appointment to have a cataract removed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22517/14]
View answerWritten answers
In relation to the particular patient query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to him directly.