Written Answers 558 - 573
558. Deputy Patrick O'Donovan asked the Minister for Health the position regarding representations in respect of the roll-out of primary care centres (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23123/15]
View answerNo such representations as outlined in the Deputy's question exist on the Department's files.
559. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if a medical appointment will be expedited in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23131/15]
View answerUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
The 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 should take the matter up with the consultant and the hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, 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.
560. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the length of time it is taking to deal with reviews in respect of medical cards; when he expects a decision to be reached in such a review in respect of persons (details supplied) in County Wexford who submitted an application for a review, together with all the supporting documentation, over two months ago; the reasons for the delay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23144/15]
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.
561. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Health the position regarding a medical appointment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Carlow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23159/15]
View answerUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
The 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 should take the matter up with the consultant and the hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, 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.
562. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an application for a medical card for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23163/15]
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.
563. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Health the reason the cross-border directive, which allows citizens to seek medical care in other European Union and European Economic Area member states and to be reimbursed on return home, is not actively promoted by his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23175/15]
View answer661. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding children’s orthodontist services and the cross-border directive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23929/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 563 and 661 together.
The EU Directive on the application of patient’s rights in cross-border healthcare seeks to ensure a clear and transparent framework for the provision of cross-border healthcare within the EU and is designed to clarify patients' rights to access safe and good quality treatment across EU/EEA Member States.
The Health Service Executive operates the EU Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross Border Healthcare in Ireland. In line with practice in other EU Member States, the HSE, through the National Contact Point (NCP) office, provides information for patients on the Cross-Border Directive on its website - http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/schemes/cbd/ - and also by phone. The principal function of the NCP (which is the mechanism specified under the Directive for the dissemination of information on the Directive by Member States) is to facilitate exchange of information for patients concerning their rights and entitlements relating to receiving healthcare in another Member State, in particular the terms and conditions for reimbursement of cost and the procedures for accessing and determining those entitlements. The NCP also has a responsibility to ensure that all enquirers are informed of the right to healthcare, if any, that they may have through the European legislation on the coordination of social security schemes (EU Regulation 883/04) and which may be more beneficial to them. The NCP is able to inform patients what the cost of their treatments would be in Ireland to allow them make a comparison with the costs they are being quoted for comparable treatment in another Member State.
The healthcare being sought under the CBD can only be healthcare that a person would be entitled to within the public health system in Ireland, which is not contrary to Irish legislation. Referral for care under the CBD can be made by a GP, a hospital consultant and certain other HSE clinicians. It will be a matter for the patient and his/her referring doctor to identify the clinician abroad and satisfy him/herself in relation to the qualifications, quality and safety of the services being availed of in the other jurisdiction.
Prior authorisation may be required from the HSE for certain healthcare. This requires completion of an application process; consequently patients intending to access care under the CBD should check with the HSE in advance of travelling. The costs must be borne by the individual and he/she then will seek reimbursement for the cost of the healthcare upon return to Ireland. The HSE will reimburse the patient for care which meets the terms of the CBD in line with the Directive. Costs will only be reimbursed up to the level that would have been arisen if the healthcare had been provided in Ireland or the actual cost of the healthcare in the other member state, whichever is the lesser. All other costs associated with accessing care abroad under the CBD are a matter for the patient and will not be reimbursable by the HSE.
564. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that units (details supplied) at Connolly Hospital in Dublin 15 will remain open, and that existing places for residents will remain secure, until the new unit is open. [23182/15]
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.
565. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the cost of refurbishing the new ambulance station in Loughglynn in County Roscommon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23184/15]
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.
566. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the reason the west Roscommon and east Mayo ambulance blackspot is not to have an ambulance permanently appointed to it, as is the case in Tuam and Mulranny; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23185/15]
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.
567. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the implications which the new rehabilitation unit at Roscommon County Hospital will have on the operation of the hospital's helipad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23186/15]
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.
568. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the current status of the capital project at Roscommon County Hospital to develop a new central sterile services department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23187/15]
View answerThere is a project underway at Roscommon Hospital to build an endoscopy unit. This project includes a decontamination unit which is adequate to support the needs of the new expanded endoscopy department. The HSE has been requested to provide you with a status report on the project's progress.
Any future investment at Roscommon Hospital must be considered within the overall acute hospital sector infrastructure programme, within the overall capital envelope available to the health service and in the context of the establishment of hospital groups. In 2015, there will be a structured integration of all hospitals in the Saolta University Hospital Group. This will provide further support for all hospitals in delivering high-quality, safe patient care in a cost-effective manner.
There will always be more projects than can be funded by the Exchequer and there is limited funding available for new projects over the next multi-annual period 2015-2019 given the level of commitments and the costs to completion already in place. It is essential that all projects, other than those where existing contractual commitments are in place, are assessed on their merits to ensure that the limited capital funding available goes to those developments which address the greatest service need. The HSE is concentrating on applying the limited funding available for infrastructure development in the most effective way possible to meet current and future needs.
If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office who will follow up.
569. Deputy Jack Wall asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kildare has to attend an eye clinic in Naas when there is a clinic in Athy. [23191/15]
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.
570. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health the position regarding respite care in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23195/15]
View answerThe vision for the Health Service Executive's (HSE) Disability Services Programme is to contribute to the realisation of a society where people with disabilities are supported, as far as possible, to participate to their full potential in economic and social life, and have access to a range of quality personal social supports and services including respite care to enhance their quality of life.
Respite care for children and adults with disabilities is provided by the HSE directly in some instances, or by agencies funded by the HSE to provide services on its behalf. In many instances respite services are part of the overall suite of services provided by voluntary service providers to people with disabilities under their service level agreements with the HSE. The HSE remains committed to working with all voluntary disability service providers to ensure that all of the resources available for specialist disability services, including respite services, are used in the most efficient and effective manner possible.
The HSE’s Social Care Operational Plan for 2015 aims to provide 190,000 overnight stays in centre-based respite services to almost 5,300 people. The HSE is also committed to continuing to explore methods of community respite care as an alternative to centre-based respite care, including advancing the Host Family Support Model.
In relation to the specific query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service issue, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, he can contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with the HSE.
571. Deputy James Bannon asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an application for a full discretionary medical card in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Longford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23196/15]
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.
572. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the fine of €250 that nurses had to pay at the end of May 2015 if they had not paid their annual registration fee; when it was communicated to nurses that the €250 plus €100 registration fee had to be paid by the end of May; if alternative arrangements can be put in place and if this fine of €250 can be scrapped; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23203/15]
View answer573. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the number of nurses who are working in the health service who were not registered by the end of May because of the deadline in respect of the fee; the action he is taking to ensure that all nurses who are working in the health service are registered and allowed time to pay the registration fee during the year, on a stage-by-stage basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23204/15]
View answer653. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Health the number of nurses and midwives who have been removed from the register of nurses and midwives by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for non-payment of the annual retention fee for each of the years 2011 to 2014 and for 2015 to date; the total amount of money collected in restoration fees during each of those years from nurses and midwives who have to restore their names on the register in order to practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23857/15]
View answer655. Deputy Michelle Mulherin asked the Minister for Health the procedure applied by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for removing the name of a nurse or midwife from the register of nurses and midwives; the details of correspondence sent by the board to nurses or midwifes advising them that a board meeting is to take place to decide on the removal of the name from the register; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23859/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 572, 573, 653 and 655 together.
I wish to thank the Deputies for the matter raised.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) is the independent, statutory organisation which regulates the nursing and midwifery professions in Ireland. In this regard, I would like to advise you that the setting of fees to be paid by nurses and midwives is a matter for the NMBI. Therefore, this is an operational matter and it is appropriate that it should be dealt with by the NMBI. I have referred the Deputies' questions to the NMBI for attention and direct reply.
If you have not received a reply from the NMBI within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
