Written Answers Nos. 730-749
730. Deputy Margaret Murphy O'Mahony asked the Minister for Health the progress which has been made over the past 14 months to improve the provision of adult day services for persons with disabilities. [34057/17]
View answerThe 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.
731. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a cataract operation for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34058/17]
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.
732. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of orthodontic treatment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34059/17]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
733. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health the investment by his Department since March 2016 in County Louth and parts of east County Meath; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34069/17]
View answerAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of health care infrastructure projects, the Executive has been requested to reply directly to you in relation to investment since March 2016 in County Louth and parts of east County Meath.
734. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a cataract operation in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34076/17]
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.
735. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a cataract operation for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34077/17]
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.
736. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a cataract operation in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34078/17]
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.
737. Deputy Martin Heydon asked the Minister for Health his views on amendments being circulated in relation to the Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34079/17]
View answerThe Health and Social Care Professionals (Amendment) Bill passed Committee Stage in Dail Eireann on Tuesday 11th July, 2017. The Bill amends the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 in three main areas. It will address gaps in the Act in relation to appointments to the State boards established under the Act; it will provide for conditions or criteria to apply to applicants for registration who have not yet practised their professions; and it will introduce temporary provisions relating to registration in the register of physiotherapists in advance of regulations to protect the title of physical therapist alongside the title of physiotherapist, the protection of which is already provided for in the Act.
Following the debate at Committee Stage earlier this week, I have undertaken to engage further with both the Irish Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (ISCP) and the Irish Association of Physical Therapists (IAPT) in order to bring greater clarity to the provisions of the Bill in advance of proceeding to Report Stage in Dail Eireann in the Autumn. Department officials will be in contact with each professional body in the near future to facilitate this engagement.
738. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of an assessment in CUH for a cataract operation for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34080/17]
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.
739. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a cataract operation in South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34084/17]
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.
740. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health when he plans to bring forward multi-annual plans and budgets for health expenditure, both current and capital. [34085/17]
View answerThe Programme for Partnership Government set out the Government's intention to work with the Oireachtas to sustain appropriate annual increases in the Health Budget. Expenditure is to be based on multi-year budgeting supported by a five year Health Service Plan based on realistic and verifiable projections. The Department is currently considering how best to practically implement this commitment and work is on-going in the development of the different elements required.
In the meantime, in the context of the annual Estimates process, the HSE are undertaking work on Budgeting and Service Planning for 2018 and, as with previous years, the National Service Plan for 2018 is expected to be published in early December 2017.
741. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health when the HSE will publish a five year service plan. [34086/17]
View answerThe Programme for Partnership Government set out the Government's intention to work with the Oireachtas to sustain appropriate annual increases in the Health Budget. Expenditure is to be based on multi-year budgeting supported by a five year Health Service Plan based on realistic and verifiable projections. The Department is currently considering how best to practically implement this commitment and work is on-going in the development of the different elements required.
In the meantime, the HSE are undertaking work on Budgeting and Service Planning for 2018 and, as with previous years, the National Service Plan for 2018 is expected to be published in early December 2017.
742. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a report on the allocation of the €15 million in 2017 to fund the National Treatment Purchase Fund to urgently address waiting lists for those waiting longest; the amount of this funding which has now been spent; and the number of persons that will receive scheduled treatment as a result of this expenditure. [34087/17]
View answerI acknowledge that waiting times are often unacceptably long and I am conscious of the burden that this places on patients and their families.
Reducing waiting times for the longest waiting patients is one of this Government's key priorities. Consequently, Budget 2017 allocated €20 million to the NTPF, rising to €55 million in 2018.
In order to reduce the numbers of long-waiting patients, I asked the HSE to develop Waiting List Action Plans for 2017 in the areas of Inpatient/Daycase, Scoliosis and Outpatient Services. These plans have been published and their implementation is ongoing. The Inpatient / Daycase and Outpatient Plans focus on reducing the number of patients waiting 15 months or more for inpatient and daycase treatment or for an outpatient appointment by the end of October. The Scoliosis Action Plan aims to ensure that no patient who requires scoliosis surgery will be waiting more than four months for surgery by the end of 2017. Under these Plans, since early February, over 15,800 patients have come off the Inpatient/Daycase Waiting List and nearly 57,000 patients have come off the Outpatient Waiting List.
In addition, the NTPF is currently rolling out its Daycase Waiting List Initiative focused on those waiting longest for daycase treatment, with a view to ensuring that in excess of 2,000 patients waiting more than 18 months for a daycase procedure will have received an offer of an appointment for their procedure by the end of June. The NTPF has advised that to date nearly 3000 patients files have been transferred to private hospitals under this Initiative, close to 900 patients have accepted an offer of treatment in a private hospital and around 400 patients have received their procedure.
Embedded in all NTPF Initiatives are procedures to report on the type, nature and cost of treatments commissioned, including controls to ensure quality patient treatment, value for money and efficient processes. My Department has implemented a robust monitoring framework in this regard.
The NTPF submit regular reports to the Department of Health on the number of patients treated, referring hospitals, treating hospitals, and treatment specialty. It may not be possible to make specific information on costs in relation to individual private hospitals available due to its commercial sensitivity however, the NTPF provide to the Department financial reports regarding the waiting list initiatives.
743. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the way his Department is honouring the commitment to fully implement A Vision for Change. [34088/17]
View answer'A Vision for Change', published in 2006, set out a 10-year policy framework for Ireland's mental health services. It recommended that interventions should be aimed at maximising recovery from mental illness, building on service user and social network resources to achieve meaningful integration and participation in community life.
The Government is committed to increasing the Mental Health budget annually, as shown by the substantial additional funding of some €115m provided for mental health from 2012 to 2016. While slower than originally anticipated, progress continues to be made in implementing the Report’s recommendations. The focus in the early years was on the closure of old psychiatric hospitals in favour of community service development. The implementation of Vision has been given specific priority in recent years with the additional ring-fenced Government funding over the period 2012-17, specifically aimed at modernising mental health services in line with Vision and Programme for Government commitments. A key focus has been approval of some 1,550 additional posts to strengthen Community Mental Health Teams; enhancing specialist community mental health and forensic services, increasing access to counselling and psychotherapy; and developing suicide prevention initiatives. These posts are directly facilitating the policy of moving away from traditional institutional based care to a patient-centred, flexible and community based mental health service. Staff recruitment and retention has been a challenge for the HSE for various reasons, with approximately two thirds of these posts filled so far. Recruitment continues and the HSE has also prioritised specialist areas identified in Vision, which were underdeveloped in the past (eg. Eating Disorders, MHID, Forensics, Peri-natal MH).
The HSE National Service Plans in 2016 and 2017 highlight the broad range of ongoing reforms in mental health services. Overall, service improvements in recent years have included the continued development of bespoke new facilities better suited to modern mental health care, the development of child and adolescent services, shorter episodes of in-patient care, the adoption of a recovery approach in the delivery of services and the involvement of service users in all aspects of mental health policy, service planning and delivery. The improvement of services has been aided in large part by the establishment of the HSE Mental Health Division, which was set up in 2014, delivering on a key recommendation of A Vision for Change. This Division carries operational and financial authority and accountability for all mental health services nationally.
The Department of Health is currently advancing a review of A Vision For Change. Having commissioned an Expert Evidence Review (completed in February 2017), an Oversight Committee will shortly be established to begin the process of updating our mental health policy.
744. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the status of the national oral health programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34104/17]
View answer745. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the status of the national pre-natal oral health programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34105/17]
View answer746. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the status of the national oral health programme for 0 to 16 years of age; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34106/17]
View answer747. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the status of the national oral health programme for special care, including nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34107/17]
View answer748. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health the status of the national oral health programme for children and adult mental health care patients that are designated patients under the auspices of the HSE or other such agencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34108/17]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 744 to 748, inclusive, together.
The National Oral Health Policy, which the Department of Health is currently developing will inform future provision of oral health services. This is a 3-year project led by the Chief Dental Officer and is due to be completed later this year. The project includes a needs assessment, a review of resources and involves consultation with stakeholders, including dental professionals and the public.
749. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health his plans to examine rolling out a scheme whereby community groups can apply for grant assistance to provide community defibrillators. [34117/17]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
