Timmy Dooley
Question:421. Deputy Timmy Dooley asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will have surgery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23000/17]
View answerHospital Procedures
Questions (421)
Written 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 you directly.
Sunbeds Regulation
Questions (422)
Pearse Doherty
Question:422. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health the number of sunbed units registered under the Public Health (Sunbeds) Act 2014 in 2016 and to date in 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23006/17]
View answerWritten answers
This is a matter for the HSE therefore I have referred the question to the HSE for attention and direct reply.
Health Services Provision
Questions (423)
Eoin Ó Broin
Question:423. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health the health supports currently in place for persons suffering from sickle cell disease; and his plans to provide the influenza injection to all persons with sickle cell disease. [23009/17]
View answerWritten answers
It is recommended that persons with sickle cell disease should receive inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine annually from 6 months of age (2 doses 1 month apart in the first year of receipt). Those aged 18 years or older may attend either their GP or pharmacist for vaccination and those under 18 years should attend their GP.
As health supports for persons with sickle cell disease is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
Question No. 424 answered with Question No. 398.
Suicide Prevention
Questions (425)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:425. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the number of suicide crisis assessment nurses in the Mater hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23065/17]
View answerWritten answers
The Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurse (SCAN) Initiative was first set up in 2008 in line with A Vision for Change's proposed shift towards community-based provision of multidisciplinary services. Under this initiative, GPs can refer directly to SCAN Nurses for assessment and advice on management of their patients who attend their surgeries with suicidal ideation. In each of these settings, a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment is carried out together with an assessment of mental state and a risk assessment for suicide. On the basis of this, a care plan is drawn up and the next steps depend on the psychosocial stresses identified together with the presence or absence of a mental illness such as depression.
As of end of February 2017, the Mater has two Suicide Crisis Assessment Nurses.
Suicide Prevention
Questions (426)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:426. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the policy or procedures in place in the accident and emergency department of the Mater hospital when an adult, adolescent or child, respectively, presents with suicidal ideation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23066/17]
View answerWritten answers
In relation to the query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service issue, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
Mental Health Services Provision
Questions (427)
Mary Lou McDonald
Question:427. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the psychiatric and mental health services and facilities currently available at the Mater hospital; the number of consultants, specialists and nurses working in these services and facilities; the role of each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23067/17]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service issue, this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
Question No. 428 answered with Question No. 396.
Primary Care Centres Provision
Questions (429)
Gerry Adams
Question:429. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health the proposed location for Drogheda primary care centre, PCC; what the lease and construction costs will be; the services which will operate from the centre; if the proposed PCC provides space for mental health services; and if so, the square footage which will be provided for same. [23072/17]
View answerWritten answers
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.
Primary Care Centres Provision
Questions (430)
Gerry Adams
Question:430. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 209 of 17 November 2016, if he will provide the definition of a letter of intent; and if a copy of the letter of intent for Drogheda primary care centre can be provided. [23073/17]
View answerWritten answers
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.
Hospitals Data
Questions (431)
Sean Fleming
Question:431. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health the number of hospital building projects for both permanent and temporary accommodation; the cost of this expenditure for each of the past five years in circumstances in which the funding was provided to build accommodation on lands owned by religious orders, dioceses or parishes in the Roman Catholic, Protestant and other religions and faiths; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23078/17]
View answerWritten answers
Your question has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply as the management of the healthcare property estate is a service matter.
Health Services Provision
Questions (432)
Seán Sherlock
Question:432. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the estimated time envisaged that a person (details supplied) will be fitted with a permanent spinal stimulator since undergoing a trial in July 2016 and whereby funding has been sanctioned. [23079/17]
View answerWritten answers
In relation to the query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
National Lottery Funding Disbursement
Questions (433)
Tony McLoughlin
Question:433. Deputy Tony McLoughlin asked the Minister for Health if the national lottery grant funding has been discontinued and moved to Healthy Ireland; the way in which organisations can now access large grant funding for capital investment projects, noting that the Health Service Executive's lottery funding is capped at €10,000; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23095/17]
View answerWritten answers
My Department no longer operates a National Lottery Fund. In 2016, the last year for which the fund was extant, grants totalling €3.286m were approved and paid to 136 organisations. The fund was used to provide once-off grants to community and voluntary organisations providing a range of health related services. It was not the practice to use the fund for the provision of large grants for capital investment projects.
As the Deputy is aware, the HSE operates a similar scheme and continues to provide grants to health agencies and other organisations from National Lottery funds.
The Deputy may wish to note that the Healthy Ireland Fund is not a successor or replacement for the Department's National Lottery Fund. The aim of the Healthy Ireland Fund will be to support innovative, cross-sectoral, evidence based projects, programmes and initiatives that support the implementation of the key national policies in areas such as Obesity, Smoking, Alcohol, Physical Activity and Sexual Health.
Question No. 434 withdrawn.
Services for People with Disabilities
Questions (435)
Clare Daly
Question:435. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 499 of 9 May 2017, if he will recommend steps including the use of trackers, cameras and chaperones to the Health Service Executive to protect disabled children travelling unsupervised on transport services to and from their homes and service providers to schools, hospitals, residential homes or other care facilities to safeguard them against potential criminal behaviour, including physical or sexual abuse. [23099/17]
View answerWritten answers
Responsibility for transport issues relating to children with disabilities is a matter for the Department of Education and Skills.
As the remainder of the Deputy's question relates to service issues, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.
Mental Health Policy
Questions (436)
James Browne
Question:436. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health the additional positions which will be required in 2018 over and above those already required under A Vision for Change (details supplied); and the additional staff required for every 5,000 increase in the population aged over 65 years of age. [23105/17]
View answerWritten answers
'A Vision For Change', our national Mental Health Policy, was introduced in 2006. Among its recommendations was that approximately 10,650 Mental Health Whole Time Equivalents were required to fully implement the policy.
This figure was based on Ireland’s then population of 3.917 million, as indicated in the 2002 census. The population of Ireland today, based on the most recent confirmed Census figures in 2011, is 4.499 million. Taking into account this demographic change, the required number of Mental Health Whole Time Equivalents is now 12,240. As of November 2016, there were 9,576 Mental Health Whole Time Equivalents employed, a gap of 2,664, equalling 78% compliance.
Since 2012, an additional €140 million has been allocated to Mental Health Services. This has facilitated the recruitment of over 1,150 new posts over the period 2012-16 to implement 'A Vision For Change' .
In relation to Psychiatry of Old Age, staffing has increased in this area in recent years, with 29 teams of Psychiatry of Old Age in place in 2017 compared to 26 teams in 2015. This is at 74% compliance with 'A Vision For Change' figures, which recommended 39 teams nationally. The expected increase in the population aged over 65 years and 85 years and over and the associated significant implications for the Psychiatry of Old Age services has been identified as a significant issue in the HSE National Service Plan 2017. This action is clarified within this plan under the mental health strategic priority 3: to deliver timely, clinically effective and standardised safe mental health services in adherence to statutory requirements. This commits the HSE to further enhancing the community mental health team capacity for Psychiatry of Old Age at a consistent level across all areas within available resources.
'A Vision For Change' suggests one Psychiatry of Old Age team per 100,000 population. CSO projections for 2021 predict a population figure of between 4.8 million and 5 million. This would correlate to between 48 and 50 Psychiatry of Old Age teams.
Mental Health Services Provision
Questions (437)
James Browne
Question:437. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health the additional child and adolescent mental health services staff required for every 5,000 increase in the number of children. [23106/17]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service issue, this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
Mental Health Services Provision
Questions (438)
James Browne
Question:438. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health the status of the allocation of the service reform fund established between his Department, organisations (details supplied) and the Health Service Executive; the amount which has now been allocated; the amount which has been allocated to mental health services; the allocation for each community health care organisation, CHO, in tabular form; and the mental health services being provided in each CHO with the allocation provided. [23107/17]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service issue, this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.