Michael Healy-Rae
Question:213. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of nursing support for a school (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16459/16]
View answerHealth Services
Questions (213)
Written answers
The Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose, and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This commitment is outlined in the Programme for Partnership Government, which is guided by two principles: equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
As the Deputy's question relates to a service matter, 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.
Hospital Appointments Status
Questions (214)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:214. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16464/16]
View answerWritten answers
Under 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 the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days he can contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
National Treatment Purchase Fund Payments
Questions (215)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:215. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health why the National Treatment Purchase Fund has reduced funding to a care home (details supplied); and if he is aware that the care home is passing this cost on to its residents. [16474/16]
View answerWritten answers
The legislation underpinning the Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) requires each private nursing home to negotiate and agree a price for long-term residential care services with the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) should they wish to be an approved nursing home for the purposes of the Scheme.
In negotiating with nursing homes the NTPF has regard to:
- costs reasonably and prudently incurred by the nursing home and evidence of value for money;
- price(s) previously charged;
- local market price; and
- budgetary constraints and the obligation on the State to use available resources in the most beneficial, effective and efficient manner to improve, promote and protect the health and welfare of the public.
The NTPF has statutory independence in the performance of its function, and negotiates with each nursing home on an individual basis. The NTPF may examine the records and accounts of nursing homes as part of the process with the objective of setting a fair price which delivers value for money to the individual and the State. Pricing contracts are purely a matter for agreement between the NTPF and the nursing home in question. The Department of Health has no role in such individual negotiations.
The Nursing Homes Support Scheme covers the cost of the standard components of long-term residential care which are:
- Nursing and personal care appropriate to the level of care needs of the person;
- Bed and board;
- Basic aids and appliances necessary to assist a person with the activities of everyday living; and
- Laundry service.
Additional charges may not be levied in respect of the above components of care. A person's eligibility for other schemes, such as the medical card scheme or the drugs payment scheme, is unaffected by participation in the NHSS or residence in a nursing home. Part 7 of the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013 stipulates that the registered provider of the nursing home must agree a contract in writing with each resident on their admission to the nursing home. This contract must include details of the services to be provided to that resident and the fees to be charged. Residents should never be charged fees which are not set out in this contract. The Department of Health are not a party to such contracts which are concluded between each resident and their nursing home.
Registered providers of nursing home care are obliged to provide an accessible and effective complaints procedure. Concerns about additional charges should in the first instance be taken up with the nursing home provider. The Office of the Ombudsman can examine complaints about the actions of a range of public bodies and, from 24 August 2015, complaints relating to the administrative actions of private nursing homes. The Office of the Ombudsman normally only deals with a complaint once the individual has already gone through the complaints procedure of the private nursing home concerned.
Prescriptions Charges
Questions (216)
Michael McGrath
Question:216. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Health the proportions of the projected cost of prescribed drugs which relate to payment to manufacturers; to wholesale distributors and to retail pharmacists under the general medical scheme and community drug scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16513/16]
View answerWritten answers
Under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, the HSE has statutory responsibility for the administration of the primary care schemes, therefore these matters have been referred to the HSE for attention and 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 up the matter with them.
Hospital Services
Questions (217)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:217. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a placement on a register in Cork University Hospital for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16522/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Deputy's question relates to service delivery matters and accordingly I have asked the HSE to respond directly to him.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days he can contact my Private Office and my officials will follow up the matter with them.
Nursing Homes Support Scheme Eligibility
Questions (218)
Fergus O'Dowd
Question:218. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health his policy on citizens of the Republic of Ireland who were placed in nursing home care in Northern Ireland under the nursing home subvention scheme; if his Department reviewed their cases per the regulations in place under the national guidelines, the Nursing Homes (Subvention) Regulations 1993 to 2006 and when it introduced the fair deal scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16529/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Nursing Homes Support Scheme (NHSS) is a system of financial support for those assessed as needing long-term nursing home care. Participants contribute according to their means while the State pays the balance of the cost. In order to be eligible to apply for the Scheme, an applicant must be ordinarily resident in the State. This means that they are living in the State for at least a year or intend to live in the State for at least a year. This statutory-based Scheme replaced the scheme of the Nursing Home Subvention which had been in existence since 1993, and the system of contract beds and long-stay charges in public nursing homes.
Any person who was supported in a private nursing home before the commencement of the NHSS in October 2009 could choose to transfer to the Nursing Homes Support Scheme or retain their existing subvention arrangements. Any person who was in a public or voluntary nursing home or in a contracted bed in a private nursing home before the commencement of the NHSS, likewise could continue with their existing arrangements. The National Guidelines for the Standardised Implementation of the Nursing Homes Support Scheme states that nothing in the Nursing Homes Support Scheme Act, 2009 or in the National Guidelines shall operate in a way that diminishes the overall financial position of an applicant in receipt of Nursing Home Subvention, or who is currently in a public nursing home bed, including contract beds.
Hospital Services
Questions (219)
John Brassil
Question:219. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Health to urgently examine and expedite an operation for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16533/16]
View answerWritten answers
Under 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 HSE, 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 the Deputy directly. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days he can contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
Orthodontic Services
Questions (220)
Michael Healy-Rae
Question:220. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of treatment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16535/16]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive 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 up the matter with them.
Hospital Appointments Status
Questions (221)
Willie Penrose
Question:221. Deputy Willie Penrose asked the Minister for Health the status of a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16576/16]
View answerWritten answers
Under 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 the Deputy directly. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days he can contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
Cancer Services Provision
Questions (222)
Anne Rabbitte
Question:222. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in cancer patients receiving compression sleeves in County Galway. [16585/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Deputy's question relates to service delivery matters and accordingly I have asked the HSE to respond directly to her.
If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days she can contact my Private Office and my officials will follow up the matter with them.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Questions (223)
Éamon Ó Cuív
Question:223. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of patients waiting and the average waiting time for magnetic resonance imaging, MRI, scans in Galway University Hospital; when he will complete and evaluate the business case for providing a second scan; his policy objectives on waiting times for MRI scans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16590/16]
View answerWritten answers
The Saolta Healthcare Group recognise that Galway University Hospitals diagnostic waiting list times are unduly lengthy and have advised me that they have recently been able to take some on-going action in this regard. 400 MRI scans have been outsourced to the Merlin Park Imaging Centre (MPIC). The majority of these were completed by April; the remaining patients are being seen currently.
The MRI working day was extended, this commenced in mid-December for two evenings per week. The extended working day means that the service performs 6 additional MRIs on patients each day, resulting in 12 further scans per week to clear those waiting longest. An MRI out of hours service commenced in April and is now working well.
A weekend MRI initiative is examining lists, commencing as of last weekend. This will prepare suitable patients to be assigned for initial weekend scans.
Recruitment efforts are on-going with respect to increasing the number of trained MRI Radiographers currently in the system; there are a significant number of vacancies that still need to be filled. An overall capacity planning exercise, to build sustainable plans with respect to expansion of diagnostic services at Galway University Hospitals, will be undertaken.
An initial business case for a second MRI is in preparation for a formal submission for funding to the HSE.
My Department is working with the NTPF and the HSE in planning initiatives to urgently address waiting lists for those waiting longest, funded by an annual commitment of €50m and including ring-fenced funding of €15 million in 2017 for the National Treatment Purchase Fund.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days he can contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.