Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 February 2022
650. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will request the women's health task force to consider the way care for women with hyperemesis can be improved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7483/22]
View answerI fully appreciate that hyperemesis, or severe sickness during pregnancy, is a debilitating condition for some women, and I am anxious that our health service should support women with this condition in every way possible.
Improving women’s health outcomes is a key priority for me and this Government. We made a strong commitment to Promoting Women’s Health in the Programme for Government and are fully committed to the development and improvement of Women’s Health services and to working with women and girls to improve their health across the whole life cycle.
In coming weeks I will be bringing a Women’s Health Action Plan to Government. It sets forward a wide range of positive initiatives to support women’s health, including maternal health, and provides a framework for further prioritisation as issues and needs arise.
In relation to the issue of hyperemesis, my officials are engaged with the HSE on this. The HSE are currently considering options intended to make products which treat this issue more widely available, and I am requesting an urgent consideration of this matter. I have also asked the Women’s Health Taskforce, the Department of Health group established in 2019 to improve women’s health outcomes and experiences of healthcare, to review the report currently being prepared by HSE on this issue with a view to achieving the best possible outcome for women suffering with this condition.
The commitment to Women’s Health has been reflected within Budget 2022, in the allocation of €31 million for new development funding to specifically support women’s health.
Budget 2022 will:
- Invest almost €9 million additional funding to ensure continued implementation of the National Maternity Strategy into 2022 and beyond, building on the significant investment in 2021
- Continue improvements in our gynaecology services by establishing a further 6 ambulatory gynaecology "see and treat" clinics, bringing the total to 20 clinics nationally
- Investment to fund access to contraception for women aged 17-25
- Support further developments in menopause care by increasing the number of specialist menopause clinics from 1 clinic to 4 clinics nationally
- Increase investment in sexual assault treatment units
- Invest in tackling period poverty for the first time
- Funding for the establishment of a new Obstetric Event Support Team
- Funding to establish a perinatal genetics service
- Build on initiatives started in 2021, by further expanding specialist endometriosis services for more complex cases across two centres
- Invest an additional €5 million into the Women’s Health Fund to fund innovative new approaches to women’s health services nationwide.
In addition, a further €16m in other measures to support women's health has been embedded within other new measures for 2022 within the Health Vote in areas such as cancer, mental health and social inclusion budgets, bringing the overall investment in women's health to €47m in additional funding provided for 2022.
