Written Answers Nos. 1876-1894
1876. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if the HSE and the public health system will fund inpatient treatment for a patient with severe eating disorders in a private hospital which is geared specifically for dealing with such disorders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19208/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1877. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if the funding allocated to treatment of persons with eating disorders that has been unspent since 2017 can be used to access inpatient treatments in private facilities giving the failure to date to implement a national plan for dealing with this illness; his plans to increase services aimed at such patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19209/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1878. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health the length of time a person (details supplied) who has a life threatening condition will be waiting for the necessary treatment given that they have been placed on a waiting list for outpatient treatment since October 2020 and remain untreated; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19210/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1879. Deputy Johnny Mythen asked the Minister for Health the number of adults on the waiting list for counselling services in County Wexford; the breakdown of waiting times for this list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19212/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1881. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if his Department will give consideration to permitting gyms to open for rehabilitation patients for those under the care of a general practitioner or a physiotherapist; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19223/21]
View answerSignificant progress has been made on suppressing the virus over recent months due to the huge effort of our citizens. By working together, we have saved lives and limited the impact of the disease on society in Ireland. The most recent advice from the NPHET however is that Level 5 measures, subject to a slight easing, remain necessary given disease incidence remains high, the dominance of the more transmissible B.1.1.7 variant and the fact that the R value is close to one. These measures are aimed at limiting the spread and damage of COVID-19 and are necessary to protect our key priorities of supporting and maintaining health and social care services, keeping education and childcare services open and protecting the most vulnerable members of our communities.
The Government announced an initial easing of restrictions within Level 5 from 12 April in recognition of the significant impact that the extended period of Level 5 restrictions is having on people. The focus of this easing of measures is on enabling more outdoor activities in order to improve the health and wellbeing of society. Furthermore, from 26 April, maximum attendance at funerals will increase to 25.
The situation will be subject to ongoing review taking account of the evolving epidemiological situation, the impact of the reopening of priority services, and available evidence in relation to vaccine deployment, uptake and effectiveness. The NPHET and the Government will consider the position again at the end of this month and it is anticipated that a roadmap for the further easing of measures over the coming months will be agreed. This will include consideration of the reopening of gyms and other leisure facilities.
1882. Deputy Marian Harkin asked the Minister for Health the number of primary medical certificate applications waiting to be assessed in 2021; the number of applications that were on the waiting list from 2016 until 2020; the length of time to process these applications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19226/21]
View answerThe Disabled Drivers and Disabled Passengers (Tax Concessions) Scheme is underpinned by statute and comes under the remit of the Department of Finance and the Revenue Commissioners.
The extent of the involvement of Health Service Executive (HSE) Community Medical Doctors in the Scheme relates to making a professional clinical determination as to whether an individual applicant meets the specified medical criteria for a Primary Medical Certificate, which is a requirement for the Scheme.
The Deputy may be aware that following a Supreme Court decision of June 2020, the assessment process for Primary Medical Certificates was suspended at the request of the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe T.D.. Following the approval of the Finance Act 2020 which provides for the medical criteria in primary legislation, the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, T.D., issued an instruction to the HSE to recommence assessments from 1st January, 2021.
The ability to hold assessments has been impacted by, among other things, the public health restrictions in place to suppress and manage the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately there are delays in the processing of assessments due to the involvement of the HSE Medical Doctors in the national COVID-19 response, which I know are causing undue strain on applicants.
I recently met again with the HSE to discuss the issues around the delay in accessing Primary Medical Certificate assessments. The HSE has confirmed that the assessment process has recommenced and it is continuing to monitor the situation in the context of resuming the range of services that are provided by Community Medical Doctors under the HSE Service Recovery and Restoration Plan, taking into account the pressures and challenges to the health services presented by COVID.
As the queries raised by the Deputy relate to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
1883. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) who has underlying health conditions will receive the Covid-19 vaccine; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19242/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1884. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health the way in which those with an underlying health condition will be contacted in order to receive their vaccination appointment. [19245/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1885. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on home help hours for a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19246/21]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1886. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health if he will address a matter in relation to mandatory hotel quarantine (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19249/21]
View answerThe Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act.
The designation of states will be subject to ongoing review in line with the provisions of the Act.
Mandatory hotel quarantine is also necessary in circumstances where passengers coming from non-designated states do not provide evidence that they have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before arrival into Ireland.
The provisions of the Act allows for travellers to request a review of decisions relating to their quarantine (independent appeals process); however this can only be undertaken once quarantine has begun and on a limited number of grounds. Public health will remain a paramount consideration. The State Liaison Officer (Irish Defence Forces) in the hotel provides passengers with information on how to apply.
The Government continues to evaluate wider policy on international travel as informed by the epidemiological situation and public health advice.
As of 17th April, travellers who are fully vaccinated with an EMA approved vaccine and have documents to prove vaccination are exempt. Fully vaccinated travellers are still required to have a negative pre-departure RT-PCR test and complete a period of self-quarantine at home or wherever specified in their passenger locator form.
Neither I as Minister for Health nor my Department have any role in decisions relating to whether individual persons must enter mandatory quarantine or whether individual persons are exempted travellers. All such decisions are to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Act.
1887. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of clinicians in CHO 4 that have been redeployed from early intervention and school age disability teams into assessment of needs posts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19250/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly.
1888. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of clinicians in CHO 4 that have been redeployed to track and trace, Covid-19 testing or vaccination; the original job title of each; the expected length of their redeployment in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19251/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1889. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health if developmental checks for babies have fully resumed; if a plan has been put in place to ensure any backlog is cleared; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19252/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1890. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of babies given developmental checks by age in months in 2020 and to date in 2021. [19253/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1891. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of babies born by month in 2020 and to date in 2021. [19254/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1892. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of women treated clinically for postnatal depression in 2019, 2020 and to date in 2021, in tabular form. [19255/21]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1894. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the progress of the ambulatory elective hospital in Cork; and the expected timeline of completion. [19257/21]
View answerThe National Development Plan stated that, “New dedicated ambulatory elective only hospital facilities will be introduced in Dublin Galway and Cork. These facilities will provide high volume, low complexity procedures on a day and outpatient basis, together with a range of ambulatory diagnostic services. The high volume of demand for such services in these major urban centres is sufficient to justify the construction of dedicated ambulatory centres.”
The introduction of these dedicated elective/ambulatory sites is also in line with the recommendations of the 2018 Health Service Capacity Review and the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy (August 2018).
In 2019 the Sláintecare Programme Implementation Office (SPIO) established an Elective Hospitals Oversight Group, under the joint governance of the Health Service Executive, Department of Health and Sláintecare, to guide the development of the elective/ambulatory sites, as outlined in the National Development Plan (February 2018).
The Elective Hospitals Oversight Group has the following terms of reference:
1. To develop the elective hospital capacity with a ten-year horizon of need, which facilitates the separation of scheduled and unscheduled care.
2. To provide quicker, higher quality, safer care for selected, elective patients.
3. To create capacity for acute hospital sites and reduce/eliminate outlier boarding (trolleys).
4. To drive down waiting lists, both outpatient and inpatient/day case.
5. To reduce cancellations.
6. To reduce acute hospital footfall.
The Oversight Group is following the process outlined in the Public Spending Code. As required under the Code, a Strategic Assessment Report has been completed and approved for the development of Elective Hospital facilities. This sets out the rationale for investment, the alignment of the programme with strategic requirements of Government, some initial options and potential costs, and the governance of the programme.
A site identification exercise to identify possible suitable sites in Cork, Galway and Dublin will begin in the near future. In accordance with the Public Spending Code, sites short-listed following this exercise will be appraised on a qualitative and quantitative basis with a view to determining a single preferred option in each location to be included in the Preliminary Business Case (PBC). Once completed, the PBC will be submitted to Government for its consideration.
The timeframe for completion is subject to a number of further stages of approval by Government; however, it is hoped that the new elective facilities would be operational no later than the end of 2025.
