Tuesday, 26 Jul 2022

Hospital Services

Questions (1693)

Jackie Cahill

Question:

1693. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health the number of patients treated in the medical assessment unit at Nenagh Hospital per day in June; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39938/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Hospital Staff

Questions (1694)

Jackie Cahill

Question:

1694. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health if there are job vacancies in the medical assessment unit at Nenagh Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39939/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

General Practitioner Services

Questions (1695)

Paul Kehoe

Question:

1695. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Minister for Health the assistance that is available to a person (details supplied) to secure the services of a general practitioner given the circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39947/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him/her as a patient and has unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area who are contracted to provide services under the GMS, then the HSE can assign that person to a GP's GMS patient list.

Private patients (those 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.

GPs are private contractors and it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients. In some instances, GP practices have a full list of patients and cannot take on new patients. If this happens, patients should contact other GP practices in their area. Neither I nor the HSE have any role in assigning private patients to a GP’s patient list.

The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice, including the limited access to GP services in certain areas, and has implemented a number of measures to increase GP capacity.

These measures include an increase in investment in general practice by approximately 40% (€210 million) between 2019 and 2023 under the terms of the 2019 GMS GP Agreement. The Agreement provides for increased support for GPs working in rural practices and for those working 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 258 places filled in 2022.

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.

Departmental Advertising

Questions (1696)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1696. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the amount spent on traditional and online advertising by his Department in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [39957/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

Dear Deputy,

I refer to the following Parliamentary Question that was tabled by you for written answer on 26 July 2022. Due to the scope of the query the below response has taken additional time to complete.

PQ39957/22 - To ask the Minister for Health the amount spent on traditional and online advertising by his Department in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022, in tabular form.

The amounts outlined in below table were spent on traditional and online advertising over the years 2012-2022. This includes Departmental notices, Healthy Ireland campaigns and Department of Health COVID-19 public health guidance.

The overarching aim of Healthy Ireland to bring about a healthier population by supporting people to enjoy the best possible health and wellbeing. It is the Government-led initiative aimed at delivering the Sláintecare objective of preventing ill-health and keeping people well. Since 2018, Healthy Ireland developed a number of citizen engagement campaigns designed to raise public awareness of Healthy Ireland supports under three themes – healthy eating, physical activity and mental wellbeing.

The Department's response to the COVID-19 pandemic includes a comprehensive advertising campaign across both traditional and online media channels for the purposes of informing the public and promoting the latest public health guidance. The level of advertising spend varies depending upon the public health requirements at the time. The HSE continues to run advertising campaigns to raise awareness about the COVID-19 vaccine programme and the latest public health advice.

The table attached provides the information requested in this Parliamentary Question.

Media Spend

Departmental Contracts

Questions (1697)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1697. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if his Department has spent money or sought external assistance with departmental and-or ministerial public relations; and if so, the cost; and the name of the agencies, consultants and companies involved in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [39975/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

My Department has the following information for the period 2012-2022:

YEAR	AGENCY	COST	PURPOSE
2017	Hume Brophy	€95,874.63	Management and consultancy support in preparing the Department's bid for relocation of the European Medicines Agency to Ireland (2017)
2018	Carr Communications	€700	Media training
2018	Q4PR	€20,031.44	Provision of PR services for the launch of Sláintecare
2019	Q4PR	€3,078.08	PR services for Sláintecare in 2019
2019	Q4PR	€1,999.50	Communications training workshops
2020	Q4PR	€1,820.40	Media training
2020	Hume Brophy	€20,116.8	Outstanding cost re. management and consultancy support in preparing the Department’s bid for relocation of the European Medicines Agency to Ireland (2017)

Departmental Legal Cases

Questions (1698)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1698. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of legal cases brought against his Department in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39993/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

The information requested by the Deputy is not immediately available. I will survey the Department and the collated replies will be prepared into a full response to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Departmental Legal Services

Questions (1699)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1699. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the amount spent by his Department on legal costs or legal services in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022, in tabular form. [40011/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

The following table shows the amount spent by this Department on legal costs, services and settlements in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022.

Year	Legal Costs and Services
2012	€9,405,753
2013	€8,615,370
2014	€17,023,222
2015	€38,243,638
2016	€15,450,824
2017	€6,079,537
2018	€7,037,117
2019	€28,127,934
2020	€6,635,990
2021	€10,375,976
2022	€2,262,132
Total	€149,257,493

Departmental Expenditure

Questions (1700)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1700. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the amount spent by his Department on the procurement of office space and furniture, and office IT equipment in each of the past ten years and to date in 2022. [40029/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

The OPW is responsible for the procurement of the office space for my Department. My Department entered into a lease with the Health Research Board (HRB) for additional accommodation at Grattan House, Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2. The lease was signed on the 2nd March 2020 for a period of 3 years, Lease Cost - €154,615 (+VAT) per annum.

In addition, my Department signed a 25-year lease with Irish Estates in 1998 for premises at the Irish Life building to house the Women’s Health Council. This was subsequently used to house the Disability Appeals Office. An POST National Lottery currently sublet the premises from my Department on an annual basis. The lease cost to my Department is on a net neutral basis as all costs are paid by the National Lottery. The lease expires in 2023 and has an annual value of €98,500.

The amount spent by my Department on office space, furniture, and office IT equipment over the past 10 years is given in the following table.

Department of Health	Office Space	Furniture	IT Equipment
2012	-	€11,589	€144,253
2013	-	€4,021	€88,839
2014	-	€11,743	€54,858
2015	-	€36,199	€104,524
2016	-	€23,182	€172,256
2017	-	€38,686	€146,900
2018	-	€488,049	€506,862
2019	-	€1,718	€103,624
2020	-	€59,752	€211,953
2021	-	€22,270	€197,081
2022	-	€29,978	€26,577
Totals	€0	€727,187	€1,757,727

Ministerial Responsibilities

Questions (1701)

Peadar Tóibín

Question:

1701. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of times that he embarked on visits to foreign countries on behalf of the State since the formation of the Government; the geographical location of each visit; the number of days that he spent abroad on such trips; the dates upon which each trip took place; and the associated travel and accommodation costs that were incurred by his Department for each trip, in tabular form.. [40047/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health (Deputy Stephen Donnelly)

The table below sets out the foreign visits that I have undertaken since taking office. It should be noted that the costs referred to only reflect the costs of the flights. The Department of Foreign Affairs arranged, and paid for, the hotels and associated costs. While these costs will be recouped from my Department, the Department of Foreign Affairs has not yet issued an invoice.

Travel to	From	To	Cost
Dubai	26/01/2022	03/02/2022	€832.63
Houstan	14/03/2022	19/03/2022	€1,148.52

Medical Aids and Appliances

Questions (1702)

James O'Connor

Question:

1702. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Health if he will consider the reimbursement of internationalised normalised ratio test strips and machines for warfarin patients in view of the fact that other European Union countries offer full or partial reimbursement to patients who self-test (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40056/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

As the Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Hospital Services

Questions (1703, 1704, 1705, 1706, 1708, 1709, 1710, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965)

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David Cullinane

Question:

1965. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if a decision was made to provide for an increase in the number of whole-time equivalent cardiologists at Sligo University Hospital to three; when this decision was made; the person who made this decision; if and when a business case was submitted or considered; the timeline of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41472/22]

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Written answers

Minister for Health

I propose to take Questions Nos. 1703 to 1706, inclusive, 1708 to 1710, inclusive, and 1960 to 1965, inclusive, together.

Sligo University Hospital provides a range of cardiology services, including inpatient cardiology unit, non-invasive cardiology such as Echo and TOE, Stress Testing, BP, Holter and Event Monitoring providing direct GP access. Clinics covering cardiology, heart failure and pacemaker are also in place, along with a cardiac rehabilitation service. In addition, the hospital had a Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory service operating 1 to 2 days per week (a mobile service provided by a private company) delivering diagnostic angiographies, with referral pathways to Galway University Hospitals for Percutaneous Coronary Interventions (PCIs) and other speciality Cardiology interventions up to the 30th June 2022.

Following the decision of this private company to cease the mobile Cath Lab Services at Sligo University Hospital, the Saolta Group worked with hospital management on possible contingency measures. The service will now be temporarily be provided at University Hospital Galway (UHG) with designated access provided for Sligo patients at the UHG Cath Lab Unit.

Design and decisions related to the development and delivery of specific cardiology services in Sligo have been in development over a number of years. The National Review of Cardiac Services is in the final stages and is due to be completed shortly and will be considered for ongoing development.

This review will set out the roadmap for future delivery for cardiac services nationally.

The aim of the Review is 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. In terms of scope, the National Review covers scheduled and unscheduled hospital-based services for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease in adults.

There is ongoing engagement on the development of services at Sligo hospital, with a number of meetings held over the last 2 years including with TDs from the locality to provide them with an update on developments in relation to cardiac services.

Developments at the hospital are being progressed in line with national strategic planning, capital planning and the annual estimates process as appropriate.

Question No. 1704 answered with Question No. 1703.

Question No. 1705 answered with Question No. 1703.

Question No. 1706 answered with Question No. 1703.

Ministerial Communications

Questions (1707)

David Cullinane

Question:

1707. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he had any contact with Independent Deputies in advance of a vote of confidence in the Government on healthcare services; if so, the nature of the contact; if any commitments on service provision were given; if so, the details of any commitments that were given; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40061/22]

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Awaiting reply from Department.

Question No. 1708 answered with Question No. 1703.

Question No. 1709 answered with Question No. 1703.

Question No. 1710 answered with Question No. 1703.