Written Answers Nos. 363-380
363. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the number of staff in his Department and bodies under his aegis appointed to principal officer arising from internal competitions since 7 July 2015, by year. [41845/18]
View answer364. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the number of persons appointed from the panels arising from the 2015 and 2017 open competitions for principal officer run by the Public Appointments Service, by year; if a table (details supplied) will be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41858/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 363 and 364 together.
The information requested by the Deputy in relation to my Department is detailed in the following table. The HSE has been asked to forward the information in respect of the number of staff in the HSE appointed to Principal Officer arising from internal competitions directly to the Deputy. With regard to the Department's non-commercial state agencies, the information in respect appointments to Principal Officer has been sought and a response will be collated on receipt and sent to the Deputy.
|
Department of Health |
2015 |
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
|
No. of Principal Officer appointments arising from internal competitions since 7/7/15 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
|
No. of Principal Officer appointments arising from 2015 PO Open competition run by PAS (Campaign ID: 1512210) (Effective 7/7/15) |
2 |
4 |
6 |
N/A |
|
No. of Principal Officer appointments arising from 2017 PO Open Competition run by PAS (Campaign ID: 17101202) (Effective 23/11/17) |
N/A |
N/A |
0 |
6 |
365. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a report on the case of persons (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41874/18]
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.
366. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Health if an appointment will be expedited for a person (details supplied). [41875/18]
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, since 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.
368. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health the date a person (details supplied) will receive surgery; if this surgery will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41877/18]
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, since 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.
369. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 740 of 17 November 2017, the principles which guide this funding with specific reference to intellectual property rights and return on public investment; the mechanisms of oversight, transparency and accountability in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41878/18]
View answer370. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a recently published document (details supplied); the extent to which public funding is contingent on these principles or ambitious to be contingent on these principles; his views on a move towards greater return for public investment in health research and investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41880/18]
View answer371. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the international call for a new requirement to be introduced according to which all beneficiaries of public funding for biomedical research and innovation for treatment, prevention or diagnosis of seriously debilitating or life-threatening diseases shall commit to access, effectiveness, affordability and availability principles; if consideration has been given to the ways in which such a requirement might be implemented here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41882/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 369 to 371, inclusive, together.
I understand the paper referred to by the Deputy, 'Civil society's proposal for Horizon Europe (2021)' was submitted by a range of international organisations to the EU Commission for the next EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme (Horizon Europe) which will begin in 2021, and needs to be considered in that context.
In Ireland, Clinical trials involving medicines are regulated under EU legislation. The current legislation, the European Communities (Clinical Trials on Medicinal Products for Human Use) Regulations 2004, transposed EU Directive 2001/20/EC on clinical trials into Irish law. A new EU Clinical Trials Regulation, EU Regulation 536/2014, was adopted in May 2014 and is scheduled to be implemented in 2020. The new Regulation aims to create an environment that is favourable for conducting clinical trials, with the highest standards of patient safety, across the EU.
The benefits of the new Clinical Trials Regulation will include:
- Harmonised electronic submission and assessment process for clinical trials conducted in multiple Member States.
- Improved collaboration, information-sharing and decision-making between and within Member States.
- Increased transparency, with information on the authorisation, conduct and results of each clinical trial carried out in the EU to be made publicly available.
At national level the Health Research Board (HRB) is the lead agency in Ireland supporting and funding health research. It is important to note that the HRB funds a great deal of research which is not directly aimed at the development of products. This includes most of its health services and population health research portfolio. Within the clinical trials space the HRB funds testing of medicinal products, medical devices as well as processes and therapies such as physical or psychotherapy without an associated product. It needs to be understood that great public benefit can arise from understanding how things can be done better outside of the development of products.
The HRB, in funding health research projects is committed to the highest standards and principles such as integrity, transparency, fairness and accountability; collaboration and co-operation and a focus on outcomes and impact. Examples of how they work to achieve these aims include the following:
- The HRB has been at the forefront of developing public and patient involvement (PPI) in research in Ireland. This aims to drive the relevance and improve the conduct of research.
- HRB allocation of research funding is made following international peer review to ensure that only those proposals of the highest quality are funded.
- Considerable investment has been made by the HRB, with funding from my Department, in developing a clinical research landscape in Ireland that can provide the supports and infrastructure to facilitate clinical trials of medicinal products, diagnostics and medical devices, such that they can be robustly evaluated to ensure their safety and efficacy.
- As part of its funding criteria, the HRB requires the registration of all regulated clinical trials and the publication of trial outcomes. Through its Open Publishing Platform (HRB Open Research), the HRB facilitates the publication of protocols and results. HRB Clinical Research Co-Ordination Ireland (HRB-CRCI) co-ordinates multi-site clinical trials activity in Ireland as well as collaborative and multi-disciplinary projects.
- The HRB terms and conditions for its funded research set out a number of clauses that cover oversight, accountability, transparency and protection of intellectual property of grant funding.
- The terms and conditions accepted by host institutions for HRB funding cover publication and broader public dissemination of results, and appropriate protection of Intellectual Property (IP) in line with the National Intellectual Property Protocol, "Inspiring Partnership - the National IP Protocol 2016: Policies and Resources to help industry make good use of public research in Ireland". This protocol encourages the use of non-exclusive licensing. Information on all HRB-funded awards is publicly available on its website.
The HRB monitor adherence to their terms and conditions of grants. They do this through annual and interim review and the collection of detailed evaluation data.
372. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health his plans to increase the allocation of home care package funding to CHO area 8; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41889/18]
View answerThe Home Support Service is a core service for older people and is highly valued by service users, their families and by the HSE. It provides supports which assist older people to live independently in their own homes for longer and enables large numbers of people to return home following acute hospital admission who otherwise would remain in hospital or would be admitted to long stay residential care. Following the Budget announcement, the HSE and officials from the Department of Health will immediately commence the process of developing and agreeing the HSE National Service Plan 2019, which will set out, in detail, the type and quantum of services to be delivered in 2019 including in relation to services for older people.
373. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health his plans to ring-fence an allocation of home care package funding for dementia care in the home; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41890/18]
View answerThe National Dementia Strategy was launched in December 2014 to meet the challenges faced by the 55,000 people living with dementia in Ireland and to provide services to meet growing demand in future years. The Strategy contains 35 priority and additional actions and its implementation is being led by the National Dementia Office in the HSE. The office has made substantial progress towards developing evidence-based care pathways for people with dementia and progress to date, as well as future plans, is recorded in the mid-term review of the Strategy's implementation, which was published in May this year. The Strategy emphasises the need for a "whole community response" to dementia, as the majority of people with dementia live in their own communities and wish to avail of services in their local area.
In 2014 the HSE introduced Dementia-Specific Intensive Homecare Packages (IHCPs) to test the feasibility of providing a high level of support to people with dementia with complex needs to facilitate them to remain living at home. These were initially co-funded by the HSE and the Atlantic Philanthropies and now fully funded by the HSE, which has committed to continue to provide approximately 120 packages at any one time beyond 2018. As of the end of July this year, 361 people with dementia had benefitted from an IHCP. In addition to the IHCPs, people with dementia are also able to avail of standard home care services on the basis of need and within the resources available.
The approach from the Government on Budget day is to announce the significant investment in health services for 2019 as a whole. On foot of this, the Department of Health and the HSE will commence a process of developing and agreeing the HSE National Service Plan 2019, which will set out, in detail, the type and quantum of services to be delivered in 2019.
374. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health if the allocation of mental health service funding to CHO area 8 will be increased; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41891/18]
View answerBudget 2019 allocated an additional €84 million to mental health services, bringing the Mental Health budget to almost €1 billion, an increase of 40% on 2012. €35 million is apportioned for new developments, while €20 million is for the further growth of projects commenced in 2018. New developments will be progressed in the context of both the overall HSE Service Plan 2019, and the more detailed regional Operational Plan for Mental Health. These will be published by the HSE in the near future.
375. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health his plans to ring-fence an allocation of mental health service funding to extend delivery to a 24-7 service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41892/18]
View answerProgressing the provision of a seven-day-a-week mental health service in all areas of Ireland is a HSE priority. Approximately 60% of the country was already providing weekend services prior to the implementation of the seven-day-a-week project. Since June 2017 considerable work has been done to assign resources to those remaining areas which were without weekend services. The further development of 24-hour Mental Health Service is being considered in light of the evidence coming from the implementation of the seven-day-a-week service in relation to demand for out-of-hours services and staffing needs for this. It is envisaged that all CHOs will have some level of a seven-day-a-week cover by Quarter 1, 2019.
Budget 2019 allocated an additional €84 million to mental health services, bringing the Mental Health budget to almost €1 billion, an increase of 40% on 2012. €35 million is apportioned for new developments, while €20 million is for the further growth of projects commenced in 2018. It must be noted however that the new developments will be progressed in the context of both the overall HSE Service Plan 2018, and the more detailed regional Operational Plan for Mental Health. These will be published by the HSE in the near future.
376. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of public patients in each public and voluntary hospital who have been removed from outpatient lists to date in 2018 as a result of a validation exercise and not as a result of having an appointment with a consultant. [41903/18]
View answerGood practice around the management of hospital waiting lists recommends periodic validation of waiting lists. Validation is the process whereby hospital administration contacts patients on waiting lists at pre-planned intervals during the year to ensure that patients are ready, willing, suitable and available to attend a hospital appointment or wish to be removed.
Importantly, the validation process allows for situations where, if requested by the GP/referring clinician, patients can be reinstated back to their original place on to the Waiting List.
In June, I approved the establishment of a Central Waiting List Validation function in the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). The NTPF advise that the National Centralised Validation Unit was established in September. The establishment of the new Centralised Validation Unit will put in place protocols and practices which will ensure a standardisation of approach to the validation of all waiting lists across all hospitals.
Information provided by the HSE, in the following table, sets out the data requested by the Deputy.
OPD Validation Completed to date
|
Hospital Group |
No. to be Targeted |
Total Targeted |
Total removed |
|
Children’s Hospital Group |
23,600 |
47,606 |
5,401 |
|
Dublin Midlands Group |
36,380 |
35,154 |
7,723 |
|
Saolta Hospital Group |
38,132 |
82,472 |
14,401 |
|
South/South West Group |
58,573 |
101,362 |
22,366 |
|
University of Limerick Group |
22,183 |
26,511 |
7,694 |
|
Ireland East Hospital Group |
40,761 |
20,012 |
3,060 |
|
RCSI Hospital Group |
30,325 |
36,001 |
9,191 |
|
National Total |
249,954 |
349,118 |
69,836 |
377. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on the waiting list for a home support hours package in each LHO area; and the number waiting zero to three, three to six, six to 12 and more than 12 months, respectively. [41906/18]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
378. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of home support hours provided in each LHO area in each month from January to September 2018; and the way in which this compares against target for each month. [41907/18]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
379. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the status of primary care centre projects (details supplied) announced on 22 April 2015, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41910/18]
View answerWe now have 124 primary care centres operational throughout the country. Sixteen have opened to date in 2018 and a further three are scheduled to become operational by the end of this year. The centres are being delivered by the HSE using three mechanisms - through direct build, through operational leases and through Public Private Partnership. The end of 2018 will successfully see the completion of the 14 PPP projects referred to in your question. This PPP bundle project was one of the first in Ireland to receive European Fund for Strategic Investments support and the first such project in Europe in the primary healthcare sector. 13 of the centres are already operational and the remaining one at Summerhill is due to open by the end of this year.
380. Deputy Eugene Murphy asked the Minister for Health the status of the development of a 50-bed ward block at a hospital (details supplied); when funding will be allocated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41911/18]
View answerAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
