Written Answers Nos. 388-401
388. Deputy Ciara Conway asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the new unopened maternity unit in University Hospital, Waterford; the amount that has been spent in building and equipping this facility to date; the reason it is not currently in use; if he will confirm that opening this facility is a priority; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7006/15]
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.
389. Deputy Arthur Spring asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the waiting time in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry to receive an appointment for an eye operation in the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7013/15]
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.
In relation to the particular query raised, 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 my officials will follow the matter up with them.
390. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm that there is a restriction on donations of blood to the blood bank here by persons who may have been resident in the United Kingdom during the bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE, crisis period; the number of cases which have established a clear link between residency in the United Kingdom during the relevant period and transmission of BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, CJD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7014/15]
View answerThe IBTS has implemented a permanent deferral policy in regard to blood donation for people who resided for 12 months or more in the UK between 1980 and 1996. This policy was introduced in 2004 following the first confirmed case of vCJD transmission via blood transfusion in the UK. It is implemented as a precaution against the risk of transmission of vCJD through blood transfusion. There is no test for vCJD and confirmation that someone had the disease is only possible post mortem.
There have been 4 cases of vCJD in Ireland. Two of these cases have been ascribed to exposure to the BSE agent while resident in the UK and two were indigenous cases.
I have recently asked the IBTS to establish a process to examine existing deferral policies and the extent to which they comply with available evidence and with international best practice. I expect this examination to be completed within six months.
391. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the status of a legal case (details supplied); if a full and final settlement has been reached in the case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7040/15]
View answerI understand that a settlement was reached in this case following High Court proceedings in 2012. I hope this clarifies the matter for you.
392. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Health if general practitioners can impose a charge of €20 on medical card patients to provide a script for vital medication; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7047/15]
View answerSection 11 of the General Medical Services (GMS) General Practitioner (GP) Capitation Contract, which was introduced in 1989, provides that the medical practitioner shall provide for eligible persons, on behalf of the Health Service Executive, all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess.
Section 18 of the Contract also states that the medical practitioner shall prescribe such drugs and medicines as he/she considers necessary for any person for whom he/she is obliged to provide services.
GPs who hold GMS contracts with the HSE must not seek or accept money from medical card or GP visit card holders for services covered under the GMS contract.
393. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which a person's means are in excess of the guidelines for qualification for a medical card, in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7059/15]
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.
394. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in processing a medical card application in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; if the Health Service Executive has updated its records in order that future correspondence will be addressed to the applicant and not to the applicant's deceased spouse; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7061/15]
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.
395. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Health the reason a discretionary medical card has not been re-issued in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Mayo; if it will be issued immediately, so as to prevent further financial hardship; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7062/15]
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.
396. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of persons that were approved for the nursing home support scheme fair deal but were awaiting payment approval at the end of each monthly period in 2014; the average waiting period for payment approval at the end of the prospective months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7066/15]
View answer397. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health his views that a repeat of the extraordinarily high numbers that were awaiting payment under the nursing home support scheme during the latter half of 2014, with 2,000 plus persons awaiting payment support under the scheme during the latter half of the year, and in tandem, the extraordinary waiting period that arose, averaging four months at certain stages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7067/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 396 and 397 together.
The number of persons that were approved for the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) and the average time spent on the national placement list awaiting funding under the NHSS is set out below by each month for 2014:
|
Month |
The Number of People on the National Placement List |
The Average Waiting Period on the National Placement List |
|
January 2014 |
629 |
4 weeks |
|
February 2014 |
756 |
5 weeks |
|
March 2014 |
913 |
5.5 weeks |
|
April 2014 |
1,043 |
7 weeks |
|
May 2014 |
1,265 |
8 weeks |
|
June 2014 |
1,465 |
11.5 weeks |
|
July 2014 |
1,688 |
12 weeks |
|
August 2014 |
1,842 |
14 weeks |
|
September 2014 |
2,040 |
15 weeks |
|
October 2014 |
2,135 |
15 weeks |
|
November 2014 |
1,898 |
14 weeks |
|
December 2014 |
1,411 |
11.7 weeks |
The budget for the NHSS in 2015 is €948.8m which includes an additional €10m to allow for the provision of an additional 300 long stay care places. This additional €10m has reduced the wait time for funding under the Scheme from circa 15 weeks to 11 weeks now.
398. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health his plans to implement the recommendations in the report of the dementia services information and development centre, A National Survey of Dementia in Long-term Residential Care, to introduce a payment model that is commensurate with levels of care, staff training, skill mix, and type of non-pharmacological interventions, to support long-term residential care providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7068/15]
View answerThe Irish National Dementia Strategy was published in December 2014. Its primary focus is to enable people with dementia to live well in their own homes and communities for as long as possible, and it sets out ways of achieving this. The Strategy is accompanied by a National Dementia Strategy Implementation Programme co-funded by the HSE and the Atlantic Philanthropies. It includes the provision of intensive home care packages, an information campaign and resources for GPs, who are most often the first port of call for people worried about dementia.
The Strategy acknowledges that while current health and social policy is focussed on caring for people with dementia in their own homes, there will come a time for many when home care may no longer be feasible or appropriate and when long-term residential care will be the best option. This can particularly arise when 24-hour care is needed or when the person with dementia is living alone. There is clearly a case for dementia-specific facilities as dementia is sometimes accompanied by behavioural and psychological symptoms such as agitation, aggression, disinhibition, wandering and sleep disturbance and these can occur at any stage of the illness. These behaviours can pose significant challenges for staff and other patients and can be dangerous and distressing for the person with dementia, and a specialist facility is sometimes necessary.
One of the Terms of Reference for the Review of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme is to examine the overall cost of long-term residential care in public and private nursing homes and the effectiveness of the current methods of negotiating/setting prices. The Review will also make recommendations for the future operation and management of the scheme. The Review is expected to be finalised at the end of this quarter after which it will be made publicly available.
399. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the number of persons availing of private health insurance at the end of 2014 in the age groups, 17 years and under, 18 to 29 years, 30 to 39 years, 40 to 49 years, 50 to 59 years, 60 to 69 years, 60 to 79 years, 80 years and over. [7081/15]
View answerThe Health Insurance Authority (HIA) provides my Department with Information Returns on a twice yearly basis, which includes the total number insured with in-patient health insurance plans and a membership breakdown by each age category. The Authority also publishes relevant market statistics on its website www.hia.ie. The most recent data available with a breakdown by age category is for the period ending 1 July 2014, a breakdown by age category for the second half of 2014 is not yet available. In terms of the overall market, the number of people who currently hold private health insurance is now 2.026 million (end-Dec 2014), or 43.9% of the Irish population, and has risen for two quarters in a row (an increase of over 1,000 in the quarter July to September 2014 and an increase of over 7,000 in numbers insured in the quarter to end-year).
400. Deputy John Deasy asked the Minister for Health the number of emergency medical cards that have issued on a doctors' or consultants' requests in each of the years, 2012; 2013; 2014; and to date in 2015; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7095/15]
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.
401. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health if he will locate and furnish the coroner's report, inquest report and medical notes in the case of a person from Drogheda (details supplied) who died in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in 1981, given that the person's family has been informed that none of the aforementioned notes can be located; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7127/15]
View answerThe Deputy will understand that it would be inappropriate to provide medical notes to anyone other than next of kin. My officials will raise the matter with the HSE and request that they engage directly with the family. Matters in relation to the functions of the Coroners Service, including reports arising therefrom are a matter for the Department of Justice and Equality.
