Written Answers Nos. 212-221
212. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Health the steps he will take to ensure that a person (details supplied) in County Westmeath who is having significant sight difficulties is immediately admitted for cataract surgery, which is necessary to improve this person's situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28103/15]
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 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.
213. Deputy Olivia Mitchell asked the Minister for Health the number of magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, scanners operating in St. James's Hospital in Dublin 8; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28104/15]
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.
214. Deputy Regina Doherty asked the Minister for Health the reason there is no uniformity throughout Ireland regarding the reimbursement of the cost of spectacles for children with Down's syndrome (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28106/15]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for 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.
215. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if and when a medical card will be renewed for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare who has already submitted all documentation requested; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28111/15]
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.
216. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if provision will be made for a review of a case in respect of nursing home fees in the case of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 12, given that the person's former home is unfit for rental purposes until such times as renovations are carried out; if a moratorium will be applied to the person's liabilities under the fair deal scheme in the interim; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28112/15]
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.
217. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if and when a medical card will issue to a person (details supplied) in County Laois; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28121/15]
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.
218. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will be facilitated with hearing aids; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28131/15]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for 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.
219. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken in cases of non-compliance with regulations at nursing homes, as reported in a Heath Information and Quality Authority report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28156/15]
View answerUnder the Health Act, 2007 statutory responsibility is given to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) for inspecting and registering nursing homes. The Health Act 2007 empowers HIQA to carry out this function through the processes of registration, continuous monitoring and inspection and, where necessary, the application of its powers of enforcement.
I welcome the publication of HIQA’s 2014 Overview Report on its regulatory programme for Designated Residential Centres for Older People and I am pleased to note that HIQA’s assessment is that most centres had an acceptable level of overall compliance with the relevant Regulations and National Standards.
I also note that the Authority has identified areas where improvement is required. HIQA has statutory independence in exercising its functions in this area, and follow-up and enforcement is therefore a matter for the Authority itself.
I welcome the recent announcement of Mr Brendan Howlin T.D., Minister for Public Expenditure & Reform that the remit of the Ombudsman will be extended to the private nursing home sector.
220. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting attention in respect of various elective procedures at various public hospitals; those who have already been seen by a consultant, those who are still awaiting consultation, and those identified as being in need of surgical procedures but who are still on waiting lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28167/15]
View answer223. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the number and location of public hospitals with the highest number of patients awaiting elective procedures; the nature of the procedures, whether hip replacement, cardiovascular or other; the extent to which it is planned to address this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28170/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 220 and 223 together.
As these are service matters, 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.
221. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which nurses from this jurisdiction have opted to seek employment overseas in each of the past six years to date; the degree to which pay and conditions here are comparable to those in adjoining jurisdictions and elsewhere; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28168/15]
View answerGiven the significant downturn in the economy in the period from 2007, there was a requirement to reduce public service numbers and maximise savings in the public service. The HSE introduced an embargo on recruitment in 2007, and this was followed by the moratorium on recruitment and promotion in the public sector in 2008. This curtailed nursing recruitment across the public health service. The net effect in terms of nursing numbers was a reduction in excess of 4,500 over the period. During this difficult period there were very few career opportunities for Irish Nursing graduates in the Irish publicly funded health services and as such they emigrated in significant numbers to the UK and Australia.
There has been a significant reduction in the starting salary for all public servants including nurses, given the need to reduce the public sector pay bill. Although the gross salaries for Irish nurses remain comparable with our UK competitors, taxation and other deductions make them less attractive.
While there was a significant reduction in the number of nurses and midwives up to the end of 2013, the position is now improving. The HSE is committed to increasing nursing numbers and to the conversion of agency to permanent posts where feasible. An extra 475 nurses and midwives have been employed between May 2014 and May 2015. In addition, the HSE is planning to recruit over 600 nurses across a number of nursing disciplines. There is significant work being undertaken to achieve this. This includes recent and ongoing national and local interviewing of General Nurses, Mental Health, Intellectual Disability, Registered Children's Nurses and Midwives. The HSE has also developed an International Nurse Recruitment Project for filling posts. This initiative is a targeted recruitment drive in the UK primarily focused on Irish trained nurses who left during the moratorium. In order to facilitate this the services of a recruitment agency has been secured. It is hoped that the first of the interviews will commence in the coming weeks in a number of UK cities with the first nurses due to commence duty in August.
