Tuesday, 17 Jan 2017

Medical Aids and Appliances Provision

Questions (815)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

815. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of an application for a hearing aid by a person (details supplied). [41059/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for reply to the Deputy.

Orthodontic Services Waiting Lists

Questions (816)

James Lawless

Question:

816. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health the reason for the delay in the treatment of a person (details supplied) on the list for orthodontic surgery at St. James's Hospital, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41065/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for reply to the Deputy.

Question No. 817 answered with Question No. 814.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Questions (818)

Mary Lou McDonald

Question:

818. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the status of an operation in respect of a person (details supplied) in Dublin 7; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41067/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

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.

Question No. 819 withdrawn.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Questions (820)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

820. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health further to his statement on 8 December 2016 that the HSE had advised that between August 2016 and December 2016 there had been a reduction of over 8,000 patients on the inpatient and day case waiting list under the waiting list action plan either through treatment provision, clinical validation or being given a date for their procedure to take place, the numbers that received treatment provision; the number removed from the list following clinical validation; the number removed having been given a date for their procedure to take place; and if the number removed following receipt of a date for their procedure received that procedure prior to December 2016. [41087/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

In August 2016, I requested that the HSE develop an Action Plan on Waiting Lists focused on those waiting the longest. The Action Plan set a target to reduce the number of patients waiting 18 months or over for Inpatient or Daycase procedure by 50% by the end of 2016. December 2016 waiting list performance data confirmed that the HSE achieved its target. Since the commencement of the Action Plan, in achieving the target, 11,519 patients have come off the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List through treatment provision, scheduling of treatment in the next six weeks or clinical validation. The actual number of people waiting for procedures for 18 months or over at the end of December was 1,738. There was no patient waiting over 36 months.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.

National Treatment Purchase Fund

Questions (821)

Billy Kelleher

Question:

821. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the detail of the engagement between the HSE and the NTPF on the remaining €10 million of the €15 million allocation for 2017; when decisions will be taken on the allocation of this; the reason the decisions remain unmade as of December 2016 in view of the fact that it has been known since May 2016 that the NTPF was due to receive this funding in 2017; if the funding will be allocated for day case for inpatient procedures and the details of both; and the expected number of persons likely to benefit from this funding in 2017. [41088/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

In December 2016, I granted approval to the NTPF for the first tranche of funding, in the region of €5m, for an initiative focusing on daycase procedures. The NTPF anticipates that 2,500 of the longest waiting daycase patients will be treated under this initiative with the aim that no patient would be waiting over 18 months for a daycase procedure by June 2017. It is expected that the outsourcing of treatment will commence shortly.

In December 2016, the Department wrote to the HSE requesting that it submit in January, a Waiting List Action Plan for 2017 in respect of both the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List and the Outpatient Waiting List. The focus of these plans should be to ensure that no patient is waiting more than 15 months on either list by the end of October 2017. The HSE has been requested to develop the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List Action Plan in conjunction with and supported by, the NTPF's proposal for utilisation of the remaining €10m of 2017 funding for patient treatment. I expect to make known the details of both plans in the coming weeks.

Vaccination Programme

Questions (822, 921, 953)

Michael Healy-Rae

Question:

822. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will address correspondence (details supplied) which was forwarded to him for response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41096/16]

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Tony McLoughlin

Question:

921. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Health his views on the fact that more and more parents of children effected by the Gardasil vaccine are contacting their public representatives advising that they want to inform his Department, the Department of Education and Skills and the HSE regarding the extent of these previously unidentified health problems of their children who pre-vaccination had no medical conditions requiring constant medical intervention; if he proposes setting up an independent inquiry to investigate the claims; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41301/16]

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Michael Fitzmaurice

Question:

953. Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked the Minister for Health his views on the Gardasil HPV vaccination contract; if his Department has indemnified the suppliers of the vaccine in relation to any future litigation here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41363/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

I propose to take Questions Nos. 822, 921 and 953 together.

The immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). NIAC is a committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland comprising of experts in a number of specialties including infectious diseases, paediatrics and public health. The committee's recommendations are informed by public health advice and international best practice.

Each year in Ireland around 300 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine protects against two high risk types of HPV (16 & 18) that cause 73% of all cervical cancers. Vaccinated women and girls will still be at risk from other high risk types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer and will therefore need to continue to have regular cervical smear tests. NIAC recommended that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine be given to all girls aged 12-13 in 2009 and in September 2010 the HPV vaccination programme was introduced for all girls in first year of second level schools.

Gardasil is the HPV vaccine used in Ireland in the context of the HSE schools immunisation programme,. By January 2016, over 200 million doses of Gardasil had been distributed worldwide. In Ireland over 620,000 doses of Gardasil have been administered and over 220,000 girls have been fully vaccinated against HPV since it was introduced in 2010.

No medicine, including vaccines, is entirely without risk, there is therefore on-going pharmacovigilance and monitoring of medicinal products once they are authorised for use. The safety profile of Gardasil has been continuously monitored since it was first authorised both nationally and at EU level. In Ireland, the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) is the statutory regulatory authority for medicines in Ireland. The HPRA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Europe continually monitor adverse events to vaccination.

The HSE provides information for parents about diseases, the vaccines to prevent them and side effects to allow them to choose whether or not to give consent to vaccination. All vaccination information provided to parents is prepared from the available licensed documentation for each vaccine, the Summary of Products Characteristics and Patient Information Leaflet. The information booklets include information on the most common adverse events that can occur after each vaccination. Seizures, muscle weakness, leg pain, joint pain and chronic fatigue are not mentioned as known side effects to Gardasil in the Patient Information Leaflet. There are no known long term side effects to the vaccine Gardasil. The information is presented in clear simple language and approved by the National Adult Literacy Agency so that it can be understood by all adults as the average reading age in Ireland is 12 years of age. Parents are also given contact details for their local immunisation office and advised to speak to a member of the school immunisation team if they have any further questions.

Should parents require additional information about vaccines the immunisation leaflet refers to the HSE's national immunisation website (www.immunisation.ie). The national immunisation website has been accredited by the World Health Organisation for credibility, content and good information practices. The website allows members of the public to contact the National Immunisation Office to ask a question if they require further information. These questions, when possible, are answered by the staff of the National Immunisation Office within one working day.

I am aware of claims of an association between HPV vaccination and a number of conditions experienced by a group of young women. An illness that occurs around the time a vaccine is given and is already known to be common in adolescence does not imply the vaccine caused the problem. As there is no scientific evidence that the vaccine causes long term illnesses, the HPV vaccine cannot be held responsible for these illnesses. It appears that some girls first suffered symptoms around the time they received the HPV vaccine, and understandably some parents have connected the vaccine to their daughter's condition. It is important to reassure people that anyone who is suffering ill health is eligible to seek medical attention, and to access appropriate health and social care services, irrespective of the cause of their symptoms. The individual nature of the needs of some children may require access to specialist services. The HSE are currently working to put in place a clinical care pathway appropriate to the medical needs of this group.

The benefits of HPV vaccines outweigh the known side effects. The safety of these vaccines, as with all medicines, will continue to be carefully monitored and will take into account any future new evidence of side effects that becomes available. I encourage the parents of all eligible girls to ensure that their daughters receive this important cancer preventing vaccine.

My Department has contacted the HSE who have confirmed that as the Gardasil vaccine has been approved for use in the European Union by the European Medicines Agency there is no requirement for indemnity.

Finally my Department has carried out a search in the Minister's Office and Constituency Office and found no record of the e-mail which Deputy Healy-Rae refers to. I would like to thank the Deputies Office for providing a copy of the correspondence to officials from my Department.

Sex Offenders Treatment Programme

Questions (823)

Thomas Byrne

Question:

823. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health if a residential care home or any of its community-based facilities (details supplied) are being used as rehabilitation centres or long-term accommodation for sex offenders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41099/16]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

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 service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy.

Disability Services Provision

Questions (824)

David Cullinane

Question:

824. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41100/16]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

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.

However, as 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.

Hospital Services

Questions (825)

Jackie Cahill

Question:

825. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health the restrictions at Nenagh accident and emergency department, County Tipperary in the diagnosis and treatment of a five year old child with a fractured arm; the reason these restrictions exist in a HSE accident and emergency facility; the other restrictions there are on the staff in the diagnosis and treatment of children at this facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41102/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.

Hospital Appointments Status

Questions (826)

Thomas Byrne

Question:

826. Deputy Thomas Byrne asked the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for speech therapy for a person (details supplied). [41106/16]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.

Home Help Service Provision

Questions (827)

John Brassil

Question:

827. Deputy John Brassil asked the Minister for Health the way in which waiting lists for home support hours in County Kerry are compiled; the way hours are apportioned once a person is added to the waiting list; the way these requests are being dealt with for a person already in receipt of hours but in need of additional hours and if these requests are included in waiting lists; if any of these additional hours will be assigned to persons already in receipt of home support and in need of additional hours (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41107/16]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Health Services Provision

Questions (828)

Fiona O'Loughlin

Question:

828. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Health if the Alzheimer's day care unit has been included in the new plans for the HSE owned property at Drogheda Street, Monasterevin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41108/16]

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Written answers

Minister of State at the Department of Health

As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply.

Patient Data