Written Answers Nos. 824-843
824. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the postgraduate training post intake in general practice in each of the years 2011 to 2021 and to date in 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18088/22]
View answerGP training is in the main four years in duration. Those undertaking GP training through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathway in Medicine & Emergency medicine complete training in 3 years. Those undertaking the RPL Paediatric pathway complete in 3 years 8 months.
The intake to GP training has increased from 157 in 2011 to 258 places available in 2022, this is expected to increase by 10% each year to reach target of 350 intake by 2026.
Details of the number of annual intake of trainees on to the GP training programme, in each of the years 2011 to 2022, are set out in the schedule below:
|
Year |
Intake into GP Training |
|
2011 |
157 |
|
2012 |
156 |
|
2013 |
157 |
|
2014 |
157 |
|
2015 |
159 |
|
2016 |
172 |
|
2017 |
170 |
|
2018 |
194 |
|
2019 |
193 |
|
2020 |
208 |
|
2021 |
233 |
|
2022 |
258* |
*Expected intake in July 2022
825. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners that successfully completed their postgraduate specialist training in each of the years 2011 to 2021; the number expected in 2022; the breakdown of the graduating cohorts by the year they commenced specialist training; the locations in which graduates took longer, for whatever reason, than four years to complete specialist training in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18089/22]
View answer876. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners who successfully completed their postgraduate specialist training in each of the years 2011 to 2021, in tabular form; the number expected in 2022; the breakdown of the graduating cohorts by the year they commenced specialist training; the number of occasions on which graduates took longer than four years to complete specialist training or in which training was completed in three years through recognition of prior learning; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18307/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 825 and 876 together.
GP training is in the main four years in duration. Those undertaking GP training through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) pathway in Medicine & Emergency medicine complete training in 3 years. Those undertaking the RPL Paediatric pathway complete in 3 years 8 months.
Details of the number of GP trainees that successfully completed their postgraduate specialist training in each of the years 2011 to 2021, are set out in the schedule below:
Year Commenced Training:
Currently there are 212 trainees in Year 4, however not all will graduate due to maternity/sick leave, and they will need to gain all parts of the MICGP exams. It is not possible to accurately predict how many trainees will graduate as there are two exam sittings that will affect this number. However, the ICGP estimate between 160 to 180 will graduate in November 2022.
416 trainees took more than 4 years to complete training, in the following locations:
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is relatively new in GP training. There have been 10 RPL trainees who have graduated already: 1 in 2021; 5 in 2020; and 4 in 2019 (the first RPL graduates). Since then, the number undertaking training through then RPL pathway has increased. Below is a breakdown of RPL trainees currently in training, by scheme. RPLs are counted in the Year 1 intake, so effectively they skip year 2, directly into Year 3; hence our system does not consider any RPLs in Year 2.
|
RPL TRAINEES 2021/22 |
TRAINING YEAR |
- |
- |
- |
|
TRAINING SCHEME |
1 |
3 |
4 |
Per Scheme |
|
BALLINASLOE |
1 |
1 |
||
|
CORK |
4 |
5 |
3 |
12 |
|
HSE DUB MID LEIN |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
|
MID LEINSTER |
2 |
2 |
1 |
5 |
|
MID-WEST (UL) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
|
NORTH DUBLIN TP |
3 |
2 |
5 |
|
|
NORTH EASTERN |
2 |
2 |
4 |
|
|
RCSI |
3 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
|
SLIGO |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
SOUTH EAST |
2 |
2 |
||
|
SOUTH WEST |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
TCD |
6 |
2 |
1 |
9 |
|
WESTERN |
4 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|
Per Training Year |
33 |
18 |
14 |
65 |
826. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 325 of 3 March 2022, the way identifying relocation arrangements for unnamed residents of a centre (details supplied) constitutes an ethical breach of confidentiality given that relocation options for other service users have been provided; the message that was conveyed to residents of the centre regarding the future of that service by HSE management when the residents were relocated to another centre; the plans that the HSE has for the use of the centre in 2022 and beyond; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18090/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
827. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the names of any HSE managers that declared a conflict of interest in respect of procurement or rent of property by the HSE in each of the years 2016 to 2021; the details of the procedure within the HSE for declaring such a conflict of interests and responding to same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18091/22]
View answerAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the management of the public healthcare property estate, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to you in relation to this matter.
828. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the reason that the residents of a centre (details supplied) were chosen to move to another centre for infection and control purposes during the pandemic while residents of wards in St. Stephen's Hospital were not moved and continued to share dorm-style rooms with up to three other residents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18092/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
829. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health if the HSE is renting any community mental health residences aside from a centre (details supplied); if so, the details of the costs of rent and any associated costs; the duration of the rental arrangement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18093/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
830. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the reason more funding has been provided for adapting a Carrigaline property that has not had planning permission for use as a mental health residence since it was purchased by the HSE in January 2019 than has been invested over a ten-year period in a centre (details supplied) which has capacity for almost twice the single-room occupancy level of the Carrigaline property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18096/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
831. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details as to when a new cardiovascular health strategy will be published for Ireland; if he acknowledges that there is an urgent need for a new cardiovascular health strategy for the Irish health system; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18099/22]
View answerThe cardiovascular policy, “Changing Cardiovascular Health 2010-2019”, built on the first national cardiovascular health strategy, entitled “Building Healthier Hearts” (Department of Health 1999). The reorganisation of care was reflected in the national cardiovascular strategy in 2010 which proposed the centralisation of cardiovascular services in order to maximise access, expertise and population coverage which formed part of the consideration of the current National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services.
The National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services with specific terms of reference is cognisant of recommendations in the Changing Cardiovascular Health 2010 – 2019.
The National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services commenced in January 2018 with Professor Phillip Nolan as Chair of the Steering Group. This Review aims to achieve optimal patient outcomes at population level with particular emphasis on the safety, quality and sustainability of the services that patients receive by establishing the need for an optimal configuration of a national adult cardiac service. This aligns with the Sláintecare reform programme. The National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services is a key enabler for future policy and its recommendations will inform the future provision of services.
While substantial progress has been made on the Review, the COVID-19 Pandemic has impacted on the progress of the review, as the Chair has played a key role in the national COVID-19 response, both as a member of the NPHET and Chair of the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group. Work is now underway to progress the Review to completion over the coming months.
The Steering Group most recently met on 24/01/2022 and the next meeting is to be scheduled in April 2022. The Steering Group is currently working on the development of the proposed recommendations of the draft Report. The implementation process for the National Cardiac Services Review is also being developed as part of the process to finalise the Report.
832. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health the current waiting lists across the State for a hysterectomy; the number of persons that have been waiting for the surgery for more than two years; and the action being taken by his Department to ensure waiting times for the surgery are significantly reduced. [18104/22]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While significant work continues to positively impact on waiting times and improve pathways to elective care, acute hospitals have been impacted by operational challenges arising from surges in cases related to the Omicron variants.
The HSE has confirmed to the Department that patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically-aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.
The Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care, including through increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services, providing virtual clinics, and increasing capacity in the public hospital system.
The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan, which was launched on the 25th of February, allocates €350 million to the HSE and NTPF to reduce waiting lists. Under this plan the Department, HSE, and NTPF will deliver urgent additional capacity for the treatment of patients, as well as investing in longer term reforms to bring sustained reductions in waiting lists. Gynaecology waiting lists are a priority area of focus of this plan.
The plan builds on the successes of the short-term 2021 plan that ran from September to December last year. The 2021 plan was developed by the Department of Health, the HSE and the NTPF and was driven and overseen by a senior governance group co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Health and the CEO of the HSE and met fortnightly.
This rigorous level of governance and scrutiny of waiting lists has continued into this year with the oversight group evolving into the Waiting List Task Force. The Task Force will meet regularly to drive progress of the 2022 plan.
This is the first stage of an ambitious multi-annual waiting list programme, which is currently under development in the Department of Health. Between them, these plans will work to support short, medium, and long term initiatives to reduce waiting times and provide the activity needed in years to come.
Waiting list reductions and maximum waiting time targets apply to all acute hospital scheduled care active waiting lists. The HSE is engaged with hospital groups in a process to focus on specialties and procedures towards which the waiting list fund needs to be specifically directed to ensure the targets are achieved by year end.
In relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the attached document, provided to my Department by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, outlines the number of patients waiting for a hysterectomy at the end of February 2022.
IPDC Hysterectomy Waiting List as at 24/02/2022
|
Sum of Count |
Column Labels |
||
|
Row Labels |
0-24 Mths |
24+ Mths |
Grand Total |
|
IPDC Hysterectomy Waits |
464 |
58 |
522 |
|
Grand Total |
464 |
58 |
522 |
833. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health the number of persons that are on the waiting list in County Galway for dental care; the length of time they have been waiting in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18106/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
834. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the number of residents currently living in a centre (details supplied) that were originally residents in another centre. [18108/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
835. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 128 of 9 February 2022, if he will provide further details on the older person residential beds referred to in the response namely the number of those beds and the number of residents in a centre (details supplied) who will be transferring to the property in Carrigaline, County Cork; the location in which the remaining residents of the centre will be accommodated into the future; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18109/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
836. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Health the timeline for the publication of the action plan following the publication of the Disability Capacity Review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18117/22]
View answerFollowing publication of the Disability Capacity Review, a Working Group was set up to develop an Action Plan for Disability Services for the period 2022-2025. This Group, whose membership consisted of senior officials from the Departments of DCEDIY, Social Protection, Housing, Further and Higher Education, Health, and the Health Service Executive, has now completed its work and the draft Action Plan is currently being finalised for approval.
837. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the number of family forums that are planned to be established as part of progressing disability services in each CHO; the number of family forums which have been established in each CHO; the number of persons on each of the established family forums; the means by which persons can join family forums; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18119/22]
View answerAs this question relates to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to reply to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
838. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the steps he is taking to recruit occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and psychologists for children's disability network teams. [18120/22]
View answerAs this question relates to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
839. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 669 of 1 March 2022, the reason a local interview was used as the method of recruitment to a senior psychologist adult mental health post in St. Stephen's Hospital, Glanmire and the Fermoy home-based crisis team in March 2017 instead of the relevant national recruitment panel; the reason the relevant national recruitment panel was later used in October 2017 when the same post was at that stage vacated and again advertised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18121/22]
View answer840. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 666 of 1 March 2022, the way in which mental health psychologists in County Cork were informed of opportunities to transfer into posts outside of the nationally agreed recruitment process for the years 2014, 2016 and 2017, given that personal development planning meetings were not scheduled by HSE management for those years; if written records exist to show that these opportunities to transfer into posts were conveyed equally to mental health psychologists in County Cork in years in which such personal development planning meetings were scheduled; the reason it is, as per the response supplied, it was not possible for the HSE to comment on individual cases in which a reassignment of a staff member has been facilitated given that such reassignments are public appointments to posts that would have been open to competition among eligible candidates had the opportunities of being advertised to the nationally agreed recruitment panel process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18122/22]
View answer841. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 666 of 1 March 2022, the number of HSE psychologists in CHO4 that expressed an interest in writing in availing of opportunities to transfer into posts for each of the years 2014 to 2021; the number of HSE psychologists in CHO4 that were facilitated in each of these years to transfer into posts that were not first advertised to eligible candidates on the relevant national recruitment panel; if he will identify the HSE managers who decided on these public appointments by transfer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18123/22]
View answer842. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health the percentage of appointments to permanent contract senior psychologist posts in the adult mental health services in County Cork between August 2017 and January 2021 that took place through unadvertised transfers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18124/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 839, 840, 841 and 842 together.
As these are service matters I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
843. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will report on the progress or otherwise in the implementation of the Neurorehabilitation Strategy 2019-2021; the number and dates of all meetings of the implementation group held to date; the current status of this strategy; if he will take steps to refocus his officials on this important strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18128/22]
View answerI have referred this question to the HSE to provide an answer regarding the number and dates of meetings of the Neurorehabilitation Strategy Implementation Group.The Programme for Government – 'Our Shared Future’ - includes a commitment for advancing neuro-rehabilitation services in the community. The Health Service Executive is leading on the implementation framework in respect of the recommendations of the National Policy and Strategy for the provision of Neuro-Rehabilitation Services in Ireland 2011-2015.The Neuro-Rehabilitation Strategy Implementation Framework (IF) was launched in February 2019.
The overarching aim of the Strategy is the development of neuro-rehabilitation services to improve patient outcomes by providing safe, high quality, person-centred neuro-rehabilitation at the lowest appropriate level of complexity. This must be integrated across the care pathway, and provided as close to home as possible or in specialist centres where necessary. These services are to be configured into population based managed clinical rehabilitation networks (MCRNs).
Funding was approved to support the introduction of a managed clinical rehabilitation network demonstrator project. The focus of the demonstrator project is the development of post-acute and community neuro-rehabilitation services across CHO 6 & 7. In terms of service provision, this is where the gap is most evident in terms of demonstrating a Network model.
Disability Services Community Healthcare area 6 are currently working on the recruitment process, capital funding for the service has already been received and the location for the Community Neurorehabilitation Team (CNRT) has been identified. Disability Services Community Healthcare area 7 are working with Primary Care to identify the location & governance for the Community Neurorehabilitation Team in this area.
There has been tangible progress with the focus and trajectory of the MCRN in the development of the post-acute and community neurorehabilitation teams and services. The implementation of a 10 bedded neurorehabilitation unit in Peamount has improved timely and early access to post-acute specialist rehabilitation services for patients with complex disability including those neurological complications associated with severe COVID infection from the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. These new beds introduce some 3,500 additional specialist rehab bed days per annum into the system and are expected to reduce the NRH waiting list by over 30%, and take direct referrals from AMNCH, SJH, SVUH, Beaumont & the Mater for patients with neurological conditions.
