Written Answers Nos. 397-419
397. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Donegal will receive an appointment in Letterkenny University Hospital for surgery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5233/16]
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.
398. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 11 will receive an appointment for an operation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5237/16]
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.
399. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) in County Kildare is unable to access critically-needed speech and language therapy services; what supports can be made available at this point; if the Health Service Executive can make contact with the person's parents with a view to providing regular speech and language therapy services to allow the person obtain educational instruction on a par with his peers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5239/16]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy. 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 the matter up with the HSE.
400. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health how many orthodontic surgeons are currently employed directly by the Health Service Executive; if the executive is outsourcing dental orthodontic surgery services at present; if orthodontic surgery services outside the State are made available to patients who have been waiting more than five years for treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5240/16]
View answerPatients may require orthodontic surgery prior to or post orthodontic treatment. The HSE is not presently outsourcing orthodontic surgery services. As part of the orthodontic waiting list initiative for long waiters a once-off procurement for patients waiting for orthognathic (corrective jaw) surgery in Dublin North East was undertaken by the HSE in 2015.
Under EU Directive 201/24/EU, now commonly referred to as the Cross Border Directive (CBD), it is open to persons entitled to public patient healthcare in Ireland to choose to avail of that healthcare in another EU or EEA country or Switzerland. Assistance is provided by the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive Department of the HSE and the operation of scheme is a service matter for the HSE.
This matter and the part of the Question relating to the numbers of orthodontic surgeons employed has been referred to the HSE 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.
401. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health the status of the St. Frances clinic at Temple Street Children's University Hospital (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5252/16]
View answerAs the specific issues raised are 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.
402. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Health to support a family (details supplied) in Dublin 5 with two adults with a disability in getting residential care with independent living that is supported on a minimum basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5253/16]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy. 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 the matter up with the HSE.
403. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton asked the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to plan for and to examine the need for the inclusion in the Government capital programme for the provision of a new hospital to be built in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5256/16]
View answerThere are no plans for a new hospital to be built in County Galway. However, a number of significant projects have been completed at Galway University Hospital in recent years. These include the Clinical Research Facility, the upgrade to the Maternity Unit and The CF out-patient department which was completed in 2014 and is now operational.
The HSE Capital Plan 2016 includes funding for a full option appraisal and Cost Benefit Analysis to inform planning and funding requirements for a new ED at GUH. A cost benefit analysis in relation to a new ED is in its final stages and it is anticipated that this will be completed in March 2016. If favourable, this will go to design phase in 2016.
Pending the development of a new ED in GUH, in order to alleviate pressures and to ensure that patient experience in the existing GUH ED is improved, there are two major developments currently under way in Galway. The HSE made over €2 million available in 2015 to develop an additional 30 beds in GUH in order to reduce overcrowding. 17 of these beds opened on the 4th January 2016 with the remaining 13 opening on the 14th March 2016.
Further construction work is also ongoing on the new 75 bed ward block which will provide single room in-patient accommodation. A new acute mental health department is under way and is expected to be completed early in 2017. Following the transfer of mental health services to the new acute department work will begin on the construction of the National Plan for Radiation Oncology project for which the HSE has already obtained planning permission.
Any future investment must be considered within the overall acute hospital infrastructure programme and establishment of hospital groups. Each hospital group will be required to develop a strategic plan to describe how it will provide more efficient and effective patient services and reorganise its services to provide optimal care to the populations it serves.
404. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton asked the Minister for Health the annual throughput of patients and patient nights, the annual running costs and the average daily costs of a patient's throughputs and the average cost of a patient night, and the percentage over-capacity in University Hospital Galway, St. James's Hospital and Tallaght hospital, County Dublin, in tabular form. [5257/16]
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.
405. Deputy Hildegarde Naughton asked the Minister for Health the steps he has taken to address the lack of publicly available qualitative information in Ireland that inhibits detailed analysis of hospital performance so as to enable a focus of funding on performing hospital groups; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5258/16]
View answerThe HSE Service Plan for 2016 sets out in detail expected performance levels for hospitals in Ireland. These National Key Performance Indicators consist of: measures which are concerned with the quality and safety of care provided in hospitals; KPIs which measure access by patients to care; as well as KPIs concerned with Financial and HR performance.
HSE performance against these KPIs are reported on a monthly basis in the HSE performance reports, published on the HSE website. The HSE reports performance against these KPIs at a national level, by hospital group and hospital.
Activity based funding is being rolled out during 2016 in respect of acute hospitals. It is an approach to resource allocation whereby hospitals will be funded based on the quantity and quality of services delivered by the hospital.
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.
406. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Health the number of home help hours allocated nationally and for Cork county in each of the years 2014 and 2015 and to date in 2016; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5279/16]
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.
407. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if, in December 2015, the Health Service Executive advised his Department in a letter of a risk that the cost of delivering all the services set out in the 2016 Health Service Executive service plan could lead to a financial deficit at the end of the year of between €300 million and €500 million. [5282/16]
View answerThe HSE Director General wrote to me on 4 December 2015 advising that the HSE Directorate had adopted the 2016 Service Plan and submitted a copy of the Plan for my consideration and approval. In his letter, the DG stated "on page 3 of the Service Plan reference is made to the substantial financial risk which is being managed within the plan. The overall scale of this risk is in the order of €500 million of which €200 million relates to service delivery/performance areas including acute and community services".
I want to emphasise that, in this letter, the DG is referring to a substantial financial risk which is being managed within the Service Plan and not to a year end 2016 financial deficit of €500 million.
It is in this context that, when formally approving the HSE Service Plan 2016, I advised that it was important that management focus and the activities of all units are, from the outset of 2016, fully aligned with the Government's budgetary strategy and the delivery of the levels of services set out in the Service Plan.
408. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he has commenced negotiations for a new drug pricing deal. [5283/16]
View answerMy Department is working with the HSE, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Office of Government Procurement to ensure that the State achieves the best possible deal in terms of value for money regarding the pricing and supply of medicines. In furtherance of this, negotiations with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association are due to commence on the 24th of March.
409. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he has approved the proposed new €10 million package for general practitioners including increased rural practice supports. [5284/16]
View answerThere has been a positive engagement between the HSE, the Department and the IMO on a set of proposals for enhanced rural GP practice support and an updated list of special items of service. I welcome these proposals, which arise from the current phase of discussions under the on-going framework of engagement between the Department, the HSE and the IMO on the modernisation of the GMS GP contract.
The proposed rural practice support framework includes a change in the qualifying criteria for rural support and an increase in the financial allowance from €16,216 to €20,000 per annum. At present, 167 GPs benefit from the existing RPA. Under the new arrangements, it is expected that significantly more GPs will benefit from rural practice supports.
The proposed changes to the special items of service aim to encourage more services being provided in the primary care setting. The revised special items include increased rates of payment for suturing and bladder catheterisation, reflecting the costs and time associated with these services; and the introduction of a 24-hour blood pressure monitoring service by GPs.
The Department is currently preparing a Statutory Instrument which would give effect to the proposed arrangements. Under the legislation, the Statutory Instrument also requires the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
410. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will provide, in tabular form, all the new financial commitments his Department has entered into to date in 2016, indicating the full year cost of same. [5285/16]
View answerThere has been one specific additional financial commitment entered into to date in 2016, which relates to a placement scheme for 4th year student nurses.
- 2016 Cost €3.5 million
- Full Year Cost €4.9 million
Granting incremental credit for the 36 week student nurse placement will also result in some additional costs in 2017, though not in 2016. The precise amount will depend on the number of students who are recruited following completion of the degree programme.
My Department has also sanctioned an agreement reached by the HSE with the nursing unions on the transfer of four key tasks from doctors to nurses and an agreement reached between the HSE and the INMO on the settlement of the Emergency Department dispute. Both of these agreements were sanctioned on the basis that the costs will be met from within existing resources.
There has been a positive engagement between the HSE, the Department and the IMO on a set of proposals for enhanced rural GP practice support and an updated list of special items of service. I welcome these proposals, which arise from the current phase of discussions under the on-going framework of engagement between the Department, the HSE and the IMO on the modernisation of the GMS GP contract. The Department is currently preparing a Statutory Instrument which would give effect to the proposed arrangements. Under the legislation, the Statutory Instrument also requires the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
A range of other commitments, including planned service developments, support for the Health Innovation Hub, a pilot project to implement the National Framework for Nurse Staffing and skill mix, and a range of important capital developments were set out in the HSE's 2016 National Service Plan and the Government's Capital Investment Plan 2016-2021.
411. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health when the Health Service Executive will publish its operational plans for 2016. [5286/16]
View answerThe HSE's 2016 Operational Plans have been published and are available on the HSE website at http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Publications/corporate/.
412. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the status of the €58.5 million being held by his Department for specific initiatives, namely, in the area of mental health, €35 million; for primary care, €13.5 million; for therapy services for young persons, €8 million; and for the nursing task force pilot implementation, €2 million; if specific implementation plans for the release of these funds to the Health Service Executive are in place; if the €58.5 million will be released in full in 2016; and, if not, the amount of funding that will be released; and the detail of the funding which will be provided for each specific initiative. [5287/16]
View answerThe HSE have been notified that the approved level of net non-capital expenditure for 2016 is €12,931 million. In addition, the HSE have been advised that a further sum of €58.5 million is being held by the Department for further specific initiatives as outlined in the 2016 National Service Plan. The incorporation of this funding within the HSE's net non-capital determination will be undertaken as soon as detailed plans are agreed and developments commenced. Specific Plans have not yet been agreed with respect to these initiatives, but, it is expected that plans will be agreed and funding released for these initiatives as we progress through the year.
It is expected that the full €58.5 million in hold back funding will be released during 2016 in accordance with the 2016 Service Plan. However, due to the time required to prepare for the introduction of these initiatives during the year, the HSE will utilise €21.5 million in expected time related savings associated with this funding on a once-off basis to support the provision of home help, home care packages and transitional care beds and to fund an advance purchase agreement for vaccines in 2016. A more detailed analysis of how the time related savings are utilised is provided in the 2016 Service Plan.
413. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that for terminally ill patients entering palliative care, the process of applying for a medical card is unnecessarily onerous, stressful and complicated; if this process will be simplified for such patients and their families; if he will introduce a simplified application process or alternatively provide a patient liaison within palliative care settings to oversee the process on behalf of patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5295/16]
View answerThe HSE has a specific procedure in place for the provision of emergency medical cards for persons who are terminally ill. They are issued within twenty-four hours of receipt of the required person's details and the letter of confirmation of the condition from a doctor or a medical consultant.
No means test applies and cards issued to people with terminal illnesses are not reviewed.
414. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in Dublin 11 will receive an appointment for an operation. [5304/16]
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.
415. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the status of the respiratory and cystic fibrosis unit at Temple Street Children's Hospital, Dublin 1, including staffing levels; if these levels are adequate to meet demand; and his views that resources for this unit are being shared with Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin 12. [5310/16]
View answerAs the specific issues raised are 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.
416. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he is satisfied with the current standard of care for individuals suffering from stroke, brain injury and other neurological conditions; the progress made to date in developing occupational therapy services and neuro-rehabilitation services for persons with neurological injuries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5313/16]
View answerStroke, brain injury and neurological health services are provided across a range of settings, by different organisations and by many health professionals and carers. The Health Service Executive (HSE) provides for the health needs of those affected by stroke, brain injury and neurological conditions through a range of measures. The HSE Clinical Strategy and Programmes Directorate have a number of clinical programmes working in the area of neurology, including Neurology, Epilepsy, Stroke and Rehabilitation Medicine. The HSE also provides services for those with brain injury through Primary Care Teams with community based therapy services and personal social services, often funded through partner agencies in the non-statutory sector. In addition, the HSE provides substantial funding to a number of organisations such as Acquired Brain Injury Ireland, Headway, Enable Ireland and Epilepsy Ireland, among others, to provide supports and services to people with a neurological condition.
In August 2015, an additional €15 million was announced for the redevelopment of the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) in Dún Laoghaire. This allocation will enable the NRH and the HSE to proceed with a new 120 bed building on the Dún Laoghaire campus. The redeveloped facility will be purpose built to accommodate integrated therapy services, hydrotherapy and sports facilities.
I have also referred the question to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy in relation to standards of care and services provided by the HSE. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, she can contact my Private Office and they will follow the matter up with the HSE.
417. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the steps being taken to reduce the two-year waiting list for cataract surgery from the general list at a hospital (details supplied) in Dublin 1; the further steps he will take to reduce this waiting time for this procedure; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5315/16]
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.
418. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the reason for his Department's decision in 2010 to require a referral letter from a dentist to access primary dental care at a hospital; if consultation was carried out on the impact on those seeking dental treatment; if he is satisfied that this arrangement is not impacting on dental health; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5318/16]
View answerI understand that this Question relates to a decision of the Dublin Dental Hospital.
I am informed by the Dublin Dental Hospital that patients can self refer to the Hospital for primary dental care. Such care is provided by dental students as part of their clinical training. Patients must be over 16 years of age and are screened by the Hospital to determine their suitability for teaching needs.
Patients who require secondary or tertiary dental care in the Hospital must be referred by their dental or medical practitioner.
419. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will address the undersupply of oxygen cylinders to patients with lung fibrosis and ensure a sufficient supply of cylinders is allocated to each patient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5319/16]
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 up on the matter.
