Written Answers Nos. 684 - 701
684. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical card review in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41478/14]
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.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
685. Deputy Andrew Doyle asked the Minister for Health his views on the extension of the National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016 which is due to expire in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41485/14]
View answerThe National Drugs Strategy 2009-2016 is a cross cutting area of public policy and service delivery. It is based on a co-ordinated approach across many Government Departments and Agencies in conjunction with the Community and Voluntary sectors and I intend that this approach will continue.
The overall objective of the Strategy is to tackle the harm caused to individuals and society by the misuse of drugs through a concerted focus on the five pillars of supply reduction, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and research.
Periodic reviews of progress across the pillars of the Strategy are carried out through the Oversight Forum on Drugs which I chair. A progress report is prepared each year and the latest report for 2013 is available on my Department’s website.
My Department is starting work on developing the Strategy so that it can meet the challenges into the future.
686. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Roscommon will be called for an operation; the reason for the delay in same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41486/14]
View answerThe National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2014, 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.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
687. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding health and safety concerns; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41487/14]
View answerKeeping your hands clean is the best way of preventing infection spreading in the home. Washing your hands with warm water and soap (preferably liquid soap) and drying them properly with a paper towel will remove pathogens and prevent them from moving anywhere else. Alcohol hand-rubs are useful in the home but they will not kill some pathogens. The HSE provides advice on its website for the public in relation to appropriate hand hygiene practice.
688. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the children's hospital; if Blanchardstown, Dublin, may yet be considered as the site for the new hospital; the work completed to date and scheduled; if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the spend to date and the budget to be provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41494/14]
View answerI am happy to confirm to the Deputy that Connolly Hospital has already been considered as a location for the new children's hospital. Following the refusal of planning permission for the new children's hospital at the Mater campus in February 2012, the Minister for Health established a review group under the chairmanship of Dr Frank Dolphin to consider next steps. Connolly Hospital was one of a number of Dublin hospitals invited to make a submission to the Dolphin Group as a possible co-location partner for the children's hospital. The Dolphin Group considered all submissions and reported to the Minister for Health in June 2012. Its report was published on the website of the Department of Health in November 2012, following the Government's decision of 6 November 2012 that the children's hospital would be co-located with St. James's on its campus.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has statutory responsibility for the building of the hospital. Since the decision to locate the hospital at the St. James's campus, the Board has undertaken a range of work including decant planning; site surveys and investigations; design team procurement; and review and update of the Project Brief to take account of the new site. The Board has also begun pre-application planning consultations. The Project Brief has now been completed and approved, and a design team has been procured and is working on detailed design development, with the aim of submitting a planning application in June 2015. Subject to planning, work will commence at the main site at St. James's, and at satellite centre sites at Connolly and Tallaght, in January 2016. Re-opening the Government's decision on the location of the new hospital at this stage would mean pausing design development, delaying the project, adding to the costs and time involved and leaving children waiting even longer for this new facility. I do not intend to do this.
Approximately €39m was spent in the previous phase of this project at the Mater campus. This expenditure is shown in the Board's 2012 accounts, which have been laid before the Oireachtas. In 2013, the Board advises it recorded expenditure of the order of €1.7m with a similar amount having been spent in 2014 to date. Minister Howlin has committed to making €200m available from the sale of the National Lottery for the new children's hospital, adding to the existing €450m Exchequer funding and underlining the Government's commitment to the project. Current estimates are that the core hospital, including both satellite centres, will be delivered within this envelope. This includes provision for inflation, VAT and contingencies; it does not include equipment or ICT which can be purchased, licensed or leased separately. Philanthropic and commercial funding streams will be targeted as appropriate for supporting elements of the project to include car parking, academic and research facilities, and estimates will be reviewed and refined at each stage of the project.
689. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the case of a person (details supplied) in County Offaly; and when this person may expect an appointment. [41500/14]
View answerAs the query raised is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to you. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
690. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an appointment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; when this person might be called; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41508/14]
View answerThe scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. 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. As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
691. Deputy Dan Neville asked the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) in County Limerick will be given an early appointment date with a consultant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41511/14]
View answerThe scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. 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 case raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
692. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if the new hepatitis C treatment, Sovaldi, will be made available to patients, in view of the fact that it has been approved for the National Health Service in the UK; when he will sanction this treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41514/14]
View answerThe Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drug schemes in accordance with the provisions of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
The HSE received an application in February 2014 for the inclusion of Sofosbuvir, the first of a new generation of drugs for the treatment of Hepatitis C, in the GMS and community drugs schemes. The application is being considered in line with the procedures and timescales agreed by the Department of Health and the HSE with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association for the assessment of new medicines.
In accordance with these procedures, the HSE asked the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) to conduct a pharmacoeconomic evaluation of the new product in June 2014. The Report by the NCPE is expected shortly. This evaluation will provide detailed information on the potential budget impact of the medicine. It will also assess whether the product is cost effective at the price quoted by the manufacturer.
The NCPE report is an important input to assist the HSE in its decision making process. The HSE assessment process is intended to arrive at a decision on the funding of new medicines that is clinically appropriate, fair, consistent and sustainable.
The Department has established an advisory group to advise on an evidence-based multi-annual pharmaceutical treatment plan for patients with Hepatitis C. This group will furnish a report to the Minister for Health on this issue in the coming weeks.
In advance of the completion of the multi-annual framework the Department and the HSE intend to engage with the pharmaceutical companies shortly regarding an early access programme for the highest priority patients that require immediate treatment in 2014.
693. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath will be given a date for their operation at the eye and ear hospital in Dublin without further delay. [41516/14]
View answerIn 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.
If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
694. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Health the position regarding recognition by An Bord Altranais of nursing qualifications awarded in Australia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41532/14]
View answerI wish to advise the Deputy that I have sought the information on matters raised in your question from the Nursing and Midwifery board of Ireland. I will reply in this regard in due course.
695. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health further to the recent figures released by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, the actions that have been undertaken to reduce the waiting lists at Kerry General Hospital; when this will come into effect; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41534/14]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
696. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite a request for an appointment in respect of a person (details supplied) in Beaumont Hospital due to a serious back compliant which is worsening and affecting their ability to continue working. [41537/14]
View answerThe scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. 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. As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
698. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite the review of a medical card application in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41539/14]
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. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
699. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his plans to issue iodine tablets to households; if so, when; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41543/14]
View answerMy Department has no plans to issue iodine tablets.
Matters concerning radiological events are a matter for the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) which comes under the aegis of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.
700. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health notwithstanding his response to Parliamentary Question No. 1,120 of 17 September 2014, if he will review eligibility for a medical card in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare notwithstanding the fact that they recorded eligibility for a general practitioner visit card, who has significant medical costs and whose spouse has a medical card; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41545/14]
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.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
701. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will publish the findings of the Health Service Executive in relation to its audit of allegations of illegal advice and activity in the Irish Family Planning Association; the reasons for the delay in making the report's conclusions known despite a commitment by the previous Minister for Health in 2013 that the report would be complete within six to eight weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41550/14]
View answerFollowing allegations in 2012 against certain HSE and HSE funded crisis pregnancy counselling services the HSE undertook a Quality and Patient Safety Audit to provide assurance that the HSE and HSE funded services have appropriate arrangements in place. It is anticipated that the audit will be published as soon as the HSE has confirmation from An Garda Síochána and the Director of Public Prosecutions that they have no objection to such publication. As soon as the HSE receives such confirmation and if it is confirmed that a prosecution is not to proceed, the report will be posted to the website of the HSE at the earliest opportunity.
