Written Answers Nos. 149-158
149. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health his plans to increase the number of facilities with the capacity to provide multidisciplinary care for people with Huntington’s disease, considering that Bloomfield Hospital is the only facility in Ireland that does so and it is not accessible to persons living in many parts of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21365/22]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to a service issue, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
150. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the actions his Department or the HSE are taking to improve access to Bloomfield Hospital’s Huntington’s disease service for patients considering that it only has the capacity to care for 2% of the persons with Huntington’s disease in Ireland at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21366/22]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to a service issue, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
151. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health his plans to improve engagement with persons with Huntington’s disease, their families and the staff who support them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21367/22]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to a service issue, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
152. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health when the fair deal scheme to be applied to care in the home will be rolled out definitively, especially in the CHO 5 area in which persons with life-limiting and time-critical debilitating conditions are anxiously awaiting its arrival; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21382/22]
View answer153. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health if his Department will take steps to remedy the apparent lack of information and communication within the HSE on the fair deal scheme to be applied to care in the home (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21383/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 152 and 153 together.
The Programme for Government agreed in 2020 commits the Government to ‘Introduce a statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes, which will provide equitable access to high-quality, regulated home care’. This is an entirely new scheme and separate to the "fair deal" scheme.
Consequently, work is on-going within the Department of Health to progress the development of the new statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home-support services. Taking place within the broader context of the Sláintecare reforms, this work encompasses the development of the regulatory framework for the new scheme; the examination of the options for the financing model for the scheme; and the development of a reformed model of service-delivery.
Unfortunately, it is not possible to give you definitive dates for new statutory scheme. This is because there are dependencies for these pieces of work that are beyond the control of the Department.
In April 2021, Government gave approval to draft a General Scheme and Heads of a Bill to establish a licensing framework for home-support providers. This is being progressed by the Department with a view to bringing it through the Houses of the Oireachtas at the earliest opportunity. It is expected that the primary legislation will give the Minister for Health the power to make regulations in respect of minimum requirements which will form the criteria against which a provider’s eligibility to hold a licence will be determined. A regulatory impact analysis will be undertaken by the Department in 2022 to ensure effectiveness and mitigate risks.
In collaboration with HIQA and in consultation with the Health Service Executive and other key informants, the Department developed draft regulations and a targeted stakeholder consultation was undertaken in January 2022. Evaluating the feedback of this consultation is informing amendments in the draft regulations in advance of a public consultation planned in Q2 2022.
On 24th February, the ESRI published a report on the demand for and cost of home support. This is the final output from a programme of research that the ESRI has undertaken to support the Department of Health to progress the development of the new home support scheme. This research will form an important part of the evidence base for the development of a sustainable funding model for home support services in the context of our ageing population. Government approval will be sought in due course on any proposed legislation to provide for a financial support scheme, taking into consideration the cost associated with the various options.
In addition, work is ongoing in relation to the development of a reformed model of service delivery for the new scheme. The Pilot for testing of a reformed model of service for the delivery for home-support is fully operational. It commenced in November in CHO 8, which is the first of the four pilot sites. The three other sites CHO2, CHO 4 and CHO 7 became operational in January 2022. The pilot site evaluation will be critical to the development of the new home-support scheme.
154. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health his views on a new publicly owned elective hospital being located in the mid-west. [21385/22]
View answerThe Cross Party Sláintecare Report in 2017 articulated a new vision for healthcare in Ireland, including the provision of elective only hospitals, providing protected capacity for elective care. The “Elective Hospitals Oversight Group”, under the joint governance of the Department of Health and HSE has been guiding the development of the elective hospital proposals, following the process outlined in the updated Public Spending Code, setting out the value for money requirements for the evaluation, planning, and management of large public investment projects.
The provision of additional protected capacity for elective care is further confirmed by the Government Decision, in December 2021 and subject to the necessary approvals and requirements under the Public Spending Code being met, on a new National Elective Ambulatory Care Strategy. This new strategy aims to change the way in which day case, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans and outpatient services can be better arranged to ensure greater capacity in the future and help to address waiting lists. The development of additional capacity will be provided through dedicated, standalone Elective Hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin. The Government decision is very clear on this. No other locations are under active consideration. It is important to note that the locations chosen will allow for new facilities of a size and scale to implement a national elective care programme that will tackle waiting lists on a national basis. This means that the new facilities will be designed to maximise their capacity and in doing so will operate to cover as a wide catchment area as possible, extending beyond existing and future health areas including the mid-west.
The elective care scope of service will be developed in two phases commencing with day cases, diagnostics, and outpatients and then by in-patient treatment. On this basis, the Elective Care Centres (ECCs) will be designed to provide sufficient capacity to facilitate future phases, including some elective in patient capacity, thereby providing a sustainable and strategic response to cater for the highly dynamic landscape of healthcare policy and practice.
155. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the steps that are being taken to reduce delays in granting birth certificates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21387/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
156. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health the breakdown of the staffing allocation for the room at the emergency department at Tipperary University Hospital that is specifically for patients presenting with mental health issues; the grades of staff attending; the hours that staff are in attendance; the number of hours per week the room is staffed; if the room is fully resourced and staffed to accept patients on a 24-7 basis; the regularity with which the room is available to patients presenting with mental health issues on a 24-hour basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21391/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
157. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health if he discussed the critically important need for an elective-only hospital for mid-west region with the executive management team of University Hospital Limerick during his visit to the facility on 16 and 17 February 2022; his plans to fast-track the case for an elective-only hospital in the mid-west region; if three options are being explored (details supplied); the timeline for the development of an elective-only hospital for each of the options being explored; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21397/22]
View answerThe Department of Health is committed to improving services at University Limerick Hospital Group and ensuring patient-centred care for the people of the Mid-West. In recent years, there has been significant investment in University Limerick Hospital Group, providing additional infrastructure and services right across the Group. The Department will continue to work with the HSE to ensure services, facilities and patient experience at ULHG continue to be developed into the future.
Health capital investment decisions are informed by Programme for Government priorities, sectoral policies, strategies and reform initiatives set out in Sláintecare. The Department of Health engage with the HSE in the planning for and delivery of capital projects. The HSE is responsible for the planning and delivery of health services and management of health infrastructure. In this role, they have developed robust assessment and appraisal procedures that adhere to public financial procedures. As part of these procedures, project proposals must be prepared by the relevant Hospital Group. Proposals are then forwarded to the relevant HSE service directorate for support and sign off before being submitted to the HSE National Capital and Property Steering Committee for consideration and recommendation for inclusion in the project pipeline.
The Cross Party Sláintecare Report in 2017 articulated a new vision for healthcare in Ireland, including the provision of elective only hospitals, providing protected capacity for elective care. The “Elective Hospitals Oversight Group”, under the joint governance of the Department of Health and HSE has been guiding the development of the elective hospital proposals, following the process outlined in the updated Public Spending Code, setting out the value for money requirements for the evaluation, planning, and management of large public investment projects.
The provision of additional protected capacity for elective care is further confirmed by the Government Decision, in December 2021 and subject to the necessary approvals and requirements under the Public Spending Code being met, on a new National Elective Ambulatory Care Strategy. This new strategy aims to change the way in which day case, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans and outpatient services can be better arranged to ensure greater capacity in the future and help to address waiting lists. The development of additional capacity will be provided through dedicated, standalone Elective Hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin. It is important to note that the locations chosen will allow for new facilities of a size and scale to implement a national elective care programme that will tackle waiting lists on a national basis. This means that the new facilities will be designed to maximise their capacity and in doing so will operate to cover as a wide catchment area as possible, extending beyond existing and future health areas including the mid-west.
158. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 352 of 24 February 2022, the status of the feasibility study into remunerating service user family member carers. [21415/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
