Written Answers Nos. 834-853
834. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent public health nurse positions which are funded; the number of funded WTE posts vacant that is not filled by direct employment, agency, overtime, secondment or any other means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39399/22]
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 David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent consultant positions which are funded; the number of funded WTE posts vacant that is not filled by direct employment, agency, overtime, secondment or any other means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39400/22]
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 David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent radiographer positions which are funded; the number of funded WTE posts vacant that is not filled by direct employment, agency, overtime, secondment or any other means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39401/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy, as soon as possible.
837. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent positions which are funded across primary, community and acute care, broken down by position type; the number of funded WTE posts vacant across primary, community and acute care that is not filled by direct employment, agency, overtime, secondment or any other means; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39402/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy, as soon as possible.
838. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the percentage of CAMHS staffing numbers in place against the number recommended by vision for change and broken down by CHO, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39403/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
839. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the total amount of funding allocated to community paramedicine for 2022; the breakdown of the allocation of such funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39404/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
840. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of chronic disease management teams in place; the level of funding allocated to this area in 2022 broken down by team; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39405/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
841. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of hours of home helps or homecare funded in Budget 2022 and delivered to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39406/22]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible
842. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of funded positions for chronic disease management teams; the number of posts currently vacant and broken down by team; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39407/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
843. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients aged 60-74 and 75+ on acute hospital waiting lists by hospital and speciality as of May 2022, in tabular form; and the number waiting 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18+ months. [39410/22]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has provided the attached table which outlines the number of patients aged 60-74 and the number of patients over the age of 75 on the acute hospital Inpatient/Daycase and Outpatient waiting lists at the end of May 2022, by hospital, by specialty and by time band.
844. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients aged under 18 on acute hospital waiting lists by hospital and speciality as of May 2022, in tabular form; and the number waiting 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months and 18+ months. [39411/22]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has provided the attached table which outlines the number of patients under 18 years of age on the acute hospital Inpatient/Daycase and Outpatient waiting lists at the end of May 2022, by hospital, by specialty and by time band.
845. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the mean, median, and maximum waiting time across National Treatment Purchase Fund-reported waiting lists by speciality and hospital for May 2022, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39412/22]
View answerIn relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, waiting list information by hospital and by specialty is published monthly and is available on the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) website at: https://www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm
The NTPF only collects data on patients currently on the waiting list. The time to treatment of patients who have already received their care is not collected. As a result, the health system does not have the data necessary to calculate true average wait times.
846. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients removed from National Treatment Purchase Fund waiting lists as a result of validation for each month to date in 2022, in tabular form; the numbers by reason for removal; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39413/22]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware from my previous responses on this issue, including Parliamentary Question No 404 of the 23rd June 2022 (PQ 33335/22), and No 874 of 12th July 2022 (PQ 37406/22), the validation process is carried out through cycles where the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) works with individual hospitals, via specified waiting lists, in order to identify appropriate patient cohorts to validate, generate reports, contact patients, allow for response time, response collation, and patient removal. As such a breakdown of validation figures by hospital each month does not reflect the appropriate activity and removal rates of the validation cycle. In addition, to generate such a report would require significant manual intervention as it does not correlate with how the validation process operates in practice.
The NTPF has advised my Department that the number of patients removed from Acute Hospital Waiting Lists through their validation programme year to date up to end June 2022 was 3,942 from Inpatient/Day Case and 45,561 from Outpatient waiting lists.
In relation to the numbers by reason for removal, the NTPF does not currently collate data on the reasons patients respond that they no longer require the appointment or procedure.
847. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 411 of 30 July 2022, the reason for the delay in issuing a response; and will he take steps to ensure that a reply is provided by 15 July 2022. [39418/22]
View answerThe information requested by the Deputy was not immediately available. I have surveyed the Department and my officials are collating a reply which will issue by the 15th July as requested.
848. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 412 of 30 July 2022, the reason for the delay in issuing a response; and will he take steps to ensure that a reply is provided by 15 July 2022. [39419/22]
View answerPQ 35162/22 of 30 July 2022 was referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy.
I have contacted the HSE about the matter and they have re-assured me that a reply will issue by 14th of July 2022.
849. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the action being taken around suicide prevention and mental health, in particular for younger persons in the HSE CHO DNCC area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39420/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
850. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of expanding free general practitioner care to those under the age of 18 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39430/22]
View answer851. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of expanding free general practitioner care to the entire population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39431/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 850 and 851 together.
GP GMS contractors receive a range of capitation rates, fee per service payments and practice supports. The cost of GP visit and medical cards varies significantly with the age of the cardholder. Cost calculations require complex and detailed modelling exercises to account for a range of demographic changes, future projections of service demands and variation in the number of GPs and the allowances that could be paid.
Consultations with the IMO, representing GPs, would be held prior to expansions of GP visit card eligibility and would include discussions on the scope of services to be provided and the rate of fees payable to GPs for the provision of the services.
For these reasons, it is not possible to give the actual cost of extending GP care without fees to further cohorts. However, the 2019 IGEES paper Costing Framework for the Expansion of GP Care provides a cost estimate for expanding GP care without charges to all persons under 18 years of age and for universal free GP care. The 2018 ESRI study Universal GP care in Ireland: Potential Cost Implications also provides a cost estimate for universal free GP care.
Department of Health IGEES staff are currently working on possible options for expanding eligibility to GP care on a phased basis. This analysis includes consideration of costs, demographics, demand and GP capacity.
852. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of removing hospital impatient charges for the entire population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39432/22]
View answerNormal patient activity has been affected due to the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result 2020 and 2021 are not representative of normal services. Therefore 2019 would currently be the best representation of Income levels outside of the COVID Pandemic.
In 2019, €30.6 million was raised through the statutory inpatient charge in the Acute Hospitals.
853. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the reason for a 36-week delay in providing an urgent occupational therapy assessment for a child (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39442/22]
View answerAs the Deputy's question relates to a service issue, it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
