Written Answers Nos. 166-172
166. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite an appointment for surgery in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7297/15]
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.
167. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite an appointment for orthodontic treatment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7298/15]
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.
168. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 228 of 5 February 2015, if he will provide details of the clarifications his Department provided to the Central Bank of Ireland to assist it in its understanding of the interaction between the private health insurance market and the health system [7304/15]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the VHI's application for authorisation is currently under consideration by the independent regulator - the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).
As the process is ongoing, and in advance of a final determination by the CBI, it would not be appropriate at this stage to elaborate further on the information required by the Bank.
169. Deputy Michael Colreavy asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 138 and 139 of 29 January 2015, if he will provide details of the appropriate actions taken, as referred to in the reply, and stated to be in compliance with the regulations and national standards; if he will provide details of the said regulations and national standards, and highlight the relevant points of compliance, vis-à-vis the actions taken; the date on which he referred the matter, addressed in the parliamentary questions, to the Health Service Executive for investigation, under the terms of the national policy and procedures for safeguarding vulnerable persons at risk of abuse; the designated reporting person in this case; when, and to whom, that reporting person will report; if the report will be made available to the siblings and next of kin of the person in question; the reason the next of kin were neither contacted nor consulted, regarding their vulnerable relatives' experiences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7310/15]
View answerI have been informed that the Health Information and Quality Authority reviewed the matter referred in the details supplied and that appropriate actions have been taken, in compliance with the Regulations and National Standards.
I referred the matter to the HSE for investigation on the 29th January 2015, under its new National Policy and Procedures for Safeguarding Vulnerable Persons at Risk of Abuse that I launched with the HSE on 5th December 2014, which clears the way for staff members in HSE and non-HSE facilities, and members of the public, to refer allegations of abuse to designated reporting individual.
As the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have asked the HSE to contact you in relation to the matters raised.
170. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will provide, in tabular form, for 1 February 2014; and 1 February 2015, for each local health area, the number of medical cards in circulation; the number of general practitioner cards in circulation; the number of which were issued on the basis of the exercise of discretion; and the number of which allocated to people over 70 years of age. [7311/15]
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.
171. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a nursing home (details supplied); the tender cost agreed for the works; the way this relates to the committed €750,000 figure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7312/15]
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.
172. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 159 of 21 January 2015, regarding current medical staffing in the emergency department in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9, if he will allocate more resources to the hospital, in view of the overcrowding issues in its emergency department [7313/15]
View answerDiscussions were held between management at Beaumont Hospital and the INMO at The Labour Relations Commission on 13th and 20th January 2015. A number of measures were agreed to address staffing levels in the Emergency Department. These include:
- increasing the number of nurses on days to 12 and the number of nurses on nights to 11, as part of this additional compliment the hospital will put in place a CNM2 covering a combination of operational and practice development initiatives;
- allocating Health Care Assistants to the Emergency Department to ensure that each shift has two Health Care Assistants (HCA), this arrangement will remain in place until the additional nurses commence employment; and
- increasing the administrative cover in the Emergency Department to facilitate the transfer of patients to wards.
Hospital management will continue to pursue all possible measures to address the difficulties facing the Emergency Department in Beaumont. The agreement reached at the LRC also provides that monitoring of the commitments outlined above will take place on an ongoing basis locally and the parties will engage with each other every 4 weeks in respect of progressing matters.
