Written Answers Nos. 62-69
62. Deputy Anthony Lawlor asked the Minister for Health if funding will be made available for the development of a primary care centre in Johnstownbridge, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2346/15]
View answerThe HSE has responsibility for the provision, maintenance and operation of Primary Care Centres. Therefore, this matter has been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy. 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.
63. Deputy Liam Twomey asked the Minister for Health the changes in the medical card system; the way same will work; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2353/15]
View answerIn the light of the conclusions of the Expert Panel on Medical Need and Medical Card Eligibility and the external review of the Medical Card Process, a range of actions have been identified to improve the operation of the medical card system, particularly for people with significant medical needs.
The HSE is putting arrangements in place for a more integrated and sensitive processing of medical card applications involving significant medical conditions to ensure greater interaction between the central office regarding the assessment of a person’s eligibility and the local health office regarding the person’s medical condition and the services that they may require. The HSE has appointed a senior manager to lead the reform of the systems for handling medical card application and reviews.
The HSE is developing a single, integrated process for people to apply for a medical card, a GP visit card, the Long-Term Illness Scheme and the Drugs Payment Scheme. Access points will be established around the country in health offices to support and assist people to make applications.
The HSE is taking steps to establish a clinical advisory group to develop a methodology and guidance for the assessment of applications involving significant medical conditions so as to take account of the burden involved and the needs arising from the condition and to ensure that appropriate services are provided to people who need them.
The Minister and I have asked the HSE to examine, with the Department of Health, the best way to meet the needs of people with significant medical conditions who need the support of the public health system. This work includes considering the best way to make medical aids and appliances available to persons who do not hold a medical card, the provision of services to children with severe disabilities, and to enable people with particular needs to have these met on an individual basis rather than awarding a medical card to all family members.
64. Deputy Charlie McConalogue asked the Minister for Health when follow up funding will be provided for the patients of Letterkenny General Hospital, County Donegal, who were outsourced under the 2013 outpatients initiative and who are still waiting on their follow up treatment; if these patients will have their treatment continued in the hospital to which they were referred under the initiative; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2385/15]
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 my officials will follow the matter up.
65. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health if he will direct the Health Service Executive to reconsider the transfer of the rehabilitation and respite unit from St. Patrick’s Hospital, Cashel, County Tipperary, to the nearby Our Lady’s Hospital in Cashel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2367/15]
View answerAs this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive 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.
66. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health if he will amend the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act in view of the effect of the criminal sanction and the subsequent replacement of medical considerations with legal concerns. [2337/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware Article 40.3.3o of the Irish Constitution states that:
'The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.'
The interpretation of Article 40.3.3o was considered by the Supreme Court in Attorney General v X in 1992. Further, in December 2009, the European Court of Human Rights heard a case brought by three women in respect of the alleged breach of their rights under the European Convention on Human Rights in regard to abortion in Ireland. This action was known as the A,B, and C v Ireland case.
The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 was enacted in July 2013 and commenced in January 2014. The purpose of this Act is to restate the general prohibition on abortion in Ireland while regulating access to lawful termination of pregnancy in accordance with the X case and the judgement in the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and C v Ireland case. The Act received very careful consideration by the Houses of the Oireachtas and the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Health and Children, including three days of public hearings.
I am not proposing any amendments to the Act or the 8th Amendment of the Constitution at present.
67. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health the details of meetings of the emergency department task force; the number of times it is envisaged it will convene over the next quarter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2416/15]
View answerED overcrowding is a priority issue for me and for the Government and I acknowledge the difficulties which the current surge in ED activity is causing for patients, their families and the staff who are doing their utmost to provide safe, quality care in very challenging circumstances.
I convened the Emergency Department Taskforce last month to develop long term solutions to overcrowding by providing additional focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges presented by the current trolley waits. The Taskforce comprises senior doctors, lead hospital consultants, HSE National Directors, union representatives and senior officials from the HSE Acute Hospitals Directorate and the Department of Health.
The taskforce will provide additional focus and momentum in dealing with the challenges, complementing the ongoing work of the Special Delivery Unit and taking a service-wide approach including social care, primary care and acute care. The aim is to develop effective measures that will achieve sustainable, integrated and effective improvements across all services related to the ED trolley waits. Following a second meeting of the taskforce last week, the HSE is working on an action plan to be finalised by the end of the month to specifically address ED issues with a view to a significant reduction in trolley waits over the course of 2015. The next meeting is scheduled to take place on 2 February.
In the interim, all hospitals have escalation plans to manage not only patient flow but also patient safety in a responsive, controlled and planned way that supports and ensures the delivery of optimum patient care. These plans include the opening of additional overflow areas, reopening of closed beds, provision of additional diagnostic scans and Consultants doing additional ward rounds to improve the appropriate flow of patients through the hospital system. The Government has provided additional funding of €3 million in 2014 and €25 million in 2015 to address delayed discharges and actions being taken include the provision of additional home care packages, additional transition beds in nursing homes, 300 additional Fair Deal places and an extension in Community Intervention Teams.
68. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Health if he is satisfied that all public nursing homes will meet the Health Information and Quality Authority standards for physical environment regulations and standards by July 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2407/15]
View answerThe Government is committed to the provision of a quality public nursing home service underpinned by a regulatory system of registration and inspection, and the Department of Health, in collaboration with the HSE, is considering how this can best be achieved within the funding that is available.
Since 2009 all nursing homes - public, voluntary and private - have been registered and inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority. Registration renewals for the majority of public nursing homes are due from the middle of this year. Bearing in mind their age and structure, public nursing homes face real challenges and require investment in excess of the funding that will be available in the short to medium term.
It is important that we do everything possible to apply appropriate standards to all facilities. It is also important to recognise that publicly-run facilities provide bed capacity which is critically needed by older people, particularly by those with high or complex care needs for whom public facilities are often the only place that can meet their needs. Notwithstanding the problems that some facilities face with structures and facilities, the vast majority of their residents receive excellent levels of care. Without these public facilities many older people would simply have nowhere to go, other than our acute hospitals which are already under pressure.
Discussions have already taken place and are ongoing between the HSE and HIQA on the issues that arise for facilities around the country.
69. Deputy Maureen O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the number of addiction counsellors employed by the Health Service Executive drug treatment service in 2006; the area from which they operated; the geographical areas they covered; the number of persons allocated to each counsellor; and same for the period 2014 to 2015. [2366/15]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days she should contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
