Paul McAuliffe
Question:159. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health the wait time to see a respiratory consultant at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21428/22]
View answerHospital Waiting Lists
Questions (159)
Written answers
I sincerely regret that children can experience a long waiting time for treatment, and I remain conscious of the burden that this places on them and their families. One of the central priorities for me as Minister for Health is that waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures are improved, and that children receive the care that they need and deserve in a timely and appropriate fashion.
It 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.
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
The information requested by the Deputy in relation to the wait time to see a respiratory consultant at Temple Street Children’s Hospital Dublin has been provided to my Department by the NTPF and is outlined in the attached document. The information is provided for Outpatient (OPD) and shows the number of patients on the paediatric Respiratory Medicine waiting list by time-band at Temple Street Children’s Hospital at the end of March.
Respiratory Medicine Outpatient Waiting List (OPD), as at 1/03/2022
Children's Health Ireland (CHI) Temple Street
|
Time Band (months) |
0-6Months |
6-12Months |
12-18Months |
18+Months |
Grand Total |
|
Paediatric Respiratory Medicine |
176 |
127 |
119 |
529 |
951 |
|
Grand Total |
176 |
127 |
119 |
529 |
951 |
Hospital Staff
Questions (160)
Paul McAuliffe
Question:160. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health the number of vacant respiratory consultant posts at Temple Street Children’s Hospital, Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21443/22]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Gender Recognition
Questions (161)
Emer Higgins
Question:161. Deputy Emer Higgins asked the Minister for Health the improvements that his Department is making in the area of healthcare for transgender persons; his views on the current waiting time of over two and a half years to be first seen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21450/22]
View answerWritten answers
The Programme for Government commits to create and implement a general health policy for Trans people, based on a best-practice model for care, in line with the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) and deliver a framework for the development of national gender clinics and multidisciplinary teams for children and adults.
The HSE is committed to developing services for the transgender community in accordance with international best practice across a number of programmes including mental health, acute hospitals and primary care. This includes a robust and agreed care pathway for young people with gender dysphoria, in line with international best practice.
I am advised that a proposed model of care for transgender children, adolescents and adults has been developed by the HSE Quality Improvement Division. The model recommends a comprehensive multidisciplinary psychosocial assessment prior to commencement of hormone therapy by endocrinology services, and also outlines the framework for the development of National Gender Clinics and MDTs for children and adults.
While there are definite challenges in responding to the needs of this population, there have been many positive developments: -
- embedded clinical services, with expertise, in certain parts of the country,
- constructive advocacy groups in place with both individual and family experience of this issue,
- funding for a number of posts exists, and
- a proposed model of care in place .
The challenges mainly centre around operational and governance issues which reflect the fact that the Irish health services are delivered by a range of voluntary and statutory services and have grown up along with demand and clinician-led responses.
I am committed to the development by the HSE of a well-governed and patient-centred health care service for adults and children in the transgender community, in line with the Programme for Government.
Health Service Executive
Questions (162)
Neasa Hourigan
Question:162. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 708 of 29 March 2022, the total cost to the HSE of its use of Garnish House to date, including cleaning, insurance, security maintenance and any other costs; the rental costs for each month since April 2020; the estimated projected additional total cost comprising costs (details supplied) per month for the remainder of 2022; the expected duration of use of Garnish House by the HSE as a mental health facility; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21451/22]
View answerWritten answers
As 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.
Health Service Executive
Questions (163)
Neasa Hourigan
Question:163. Deputy Neasa Hourigan asked the Minister for Health the total investment by the HSE in any works carried out on Millfield House, Blackpool, Cork since the property was vacated in April 2020; the nature of these works; the dates on which these works were carried out; the total costs incurred by the HSE in respect of Millfield House since it has been vacated, for example, insurance, security and maintenance costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21452/22]
View answerWritten answers
As 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.
General Practitioner Services
Questions (164)
Paul McAuliffe
Question:164. Deputy Paul McAuliffe asked the Minister for Health his plans to deal with the lack of general practitioner surgeries in north-west Dublin taking on new private patients; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21453/22]
View answerWritten answers
GPs are self-employed practitioners and therefore may establish practices at a place of their own choosing. There is no prescribed ratio of GPs to patients and the State does not regulate the number of GPs that can set up in a town or community. Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders.
Under the terms of the GMS and GP Visit Card contracts, the maximum number of medical card or GP visit card patients on a GP's patient panel may not exceed 2,000, or 2,200 if the GP also holds an under 6 contract, except in exceptional circumstances. There is no minimum number of patients specified for a panel. The State does not prescribe the number of private patients that may be registered with a GP; this is a matter for individual GP practices.
Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him/her as a patient, the person concerned having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit which has the power to assign that person to a GP's GMS patient list.
People who do not hold a medical card or GP visit card access GP services on a private basis and can make enquiries directly to any GP practice they wish to register with. As private contractors, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients. Information on the capacity of GP practices to accept private patients is not collected by the HSE.
The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice and is working to ensure patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future.
The 2019 Agreement on GP contractual reform and service development will see the Government increase annual investment in general practice by approximately 40% (€210 million) between 2019 and 2023. The Agreement provides for increased support for GPs working in rural practices and for those in disadvantaged urban areas, and for improvements to maternity and paternity leave arrangements. In addition, the number of GPs entering training has been increased steadily over the past number of years, rising from 120 in 2009 to 233 in 2021, with an intake of 258 planned for this year.
These measures will see an increase in the number of GPs working in the State, improving access to GP services for patients throughout the country.
Medical Cards
Questions (165)
Niall Collins
Question:165. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health when a medical card application by a person (details supplied) will be finalised given the extensive and comprehensive documentation provided. [21466/22]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
National Maternity Hospital
Questions (166)
Róisín Shortall
Question:166. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the way the clinical appropriateness of a service is to be determined and by whom, given the agreement reached in respect of the proposed constitution of the National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park Designated Activity Company to include the wording "all services that are clinically appropriate and legally permissible"; if he has obtained legal advice on whether this wording is in compliance with the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018; and if so, the advice that was provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21468/22]
View answerWritten answers
As the Deputy will be aware, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 sets out the parameters in which termination of pregnancy may be lawfully carried out in this country. Clinical guidelines for the provision of termination of pregnancy services, within the legal framework set out in that Act, have been developed by the relevant professional medical bodies. Medical practitioners are bound through professional regulatory mechanisms to operate in accordance with best medical practice.
This is the process that underpins the provision of healthcare services in this country, and this will remain the case in the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
The new NMH is a vital project and work is ongoing to finalise the legal arrangements underpinning the planned relocation to the Elm Park campus. As I have previously said, the core objectives of the legal framework are to ensure that:
- firstly, all clinically appropriate services that are legally permissible are provided for women who need them in the new NMH;
- secondly, to prevent any influence, religious or otherwise in the operation of the new hospital; and
- thirdly, to protect the State’s investment, in relation to capital, revenue and service provision at the new hospital, for the public good.
As I have stated previously, I will bring a proposal to Government for approval to proceed once I am satisfied that the legal arrangements achieve the objectives set out above, and that all legally permissible services, including termination of pregnancy, will be provided in the new NMH as they are in the current hospital building at Holles Street.