Written Answers Nos. 1954-1969
1954. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the number of applications received for a physical care needs assessment for each of the years 2019 to 2021 broken down by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41408/22]
View answer1957. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the number of children who are on the waiting list for an appointment for early intervention services for speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychology broken down by waiting list timeframes less than 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 to12 months and more than 12 months for CHO7 west Wicklow in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41411/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1954 and 1957 together.
As these are service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1955. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the number awaiting a physical care needs assessment in 2021 broken down by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41409/22]
View answer1956. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the number awaiting a clinical assessment in 2021, broken down by waiting list timeframe per county outlining the wait time such as one month, three months, six months, twelve months and greater than twelve months in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41410/22]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 1955 and 1956 together.
As the Deputy's questions relate to service issues, they have been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
1958. Deputy Marc Ó Cathasaigh asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the pandemic bonus payment; if it will be paid to security staff who worked in hospitals and dealt directly with patients with Covid-19 including where security staff worked as porters transferring patients with Covid-19 between wards; if so, the timeline for payments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41423/22]
View answerFirstly I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to all healthcare workers for their efforts during this most challenging period.
On January 19th, the Government announced a COVID-19 pandemic recognition payment for front-line public sector healthcare workers, to recognise their unique role during the pandemic. Following extensive engagement with healthcare unions on the matter, on 19th April the HSE published eligibility guidelines and FAQs, as apply to the HSE and Section 38 agencies, which are available on its website: www.hse.ie/eng/staff/resources/hr-circulars/hr-circular-012-2022-pandemic-special-recognition-payment.html.
Payment is currently receiving priority across all Hospital Groups and Community Services in the HSE. As of Friday, 22 July, 76,210 eligible HSE staff have received payment around the country. This number excludes Section 38 agencies which are estimated to have paid 20,700 staff to date thereby bringing the total number of employees paid to 96,910.
The HSE and the Department are currently examining progressing the roll-out to the list of 6 non-HSE/non-Section 38 organisation types covered by the Government Decision. It is hoped that information will be published shortly for those certain non-HSE/Section 38 healthcare employees that are covered by the Government Decision and the process available to their employers to implement this measure for their eligible staff. This shall cover eligible staff in:
1. Private Sector Nursing Homes and Hospices (e.g. Private, Voluntary, Section 39 etc.);
2. Eligible staff working on-site in Section 39 long-term residential care facilities for people with disabilities;
3. Agency roles working in the HSE;
4. Health Care Support Assistants (also known as home help / home care / home support) contracted to the HSE;
5. Members of the Defence Forces redeployed to work in front-line Covid-19 exposed environments in the HSE;
6. Paramedics employed by Dublin Fire Brigade to deliver services on behalf of the HSE.
The above 6 areas only are covered by this Government Decision and all eligible workers will be paid in accordance with the overarching eligibility criteria in place. Once a process for payment to eligible staff is in place, I am keen that payments will be made as soon as possible thereafter.
1959. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on a case (details supplied); and when the person can expect an appointment [41433/22]
View answerUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1966. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of providing and staffing ten additional acute beds in a public hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41505/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1967. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the new spending that would be available to mental health services if it was increased to 12% of the total budget for health in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41506/22]
View answer€1,159m was allocated to mental health services in 2022 per the HSE's National Service Plan.
The total amount voted for Vote 38 (Department of Health) in the Revised Estimates Volume for 2022 for current expenditure measures is €20,695.9m.
Had 12% of this overall voted expenditure been specifically allocated to mental health services, this would have translated to €2,484m in 2022.
The overall level of funding to be provided to the Health Vote for 2023 has not yet been finalised and will be determined in the context of Estimates discussions over the next 2 months, therefore the level of funding available for mental health services in 2023 has not yet been determined.
Proposals in relation to mental health services and the associated incremental funding requirements will fall to be considered by my Department as part of the annual Estimates process later this year.
1968. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of providing and staffing ten additional ICU beds in a public hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41507/22]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1969. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Health the estimated full-year cost of reducing the maximum payment on the drug payment scheme to €40; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41508/22]
View answerThe Drug Payment Scheme (DPS) provides for the refund of the amount by which expenditure on approved prescribed medicines or medical and surgical appliances exceeds a named threshold in any calendar month. The DPS is not means tested and is available to anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland. The DPS significantly reduces the cost burden for families and individuals with ongoing expenditure on medicines.
On 1 January 2022, the DPS threshold was reduced to €100 per month. On 1 March 2022, the DPS threshold was further reduced the DPS threshold to €80. This has resulted in an increase of almost 41,500 claimants on December 2021 levels.
When producing models to estimate the impact of downward threshold reductions, the Health Service Executive (HSE) examines the impact of previous downward changes. This requires a reasonable amount of data at each threshold change to provide some level of assurance that an estimate is reasonable, especially as the HSE does not have data on sub-threshold prescriptions. Given the recency of the DPS threshold changes, there is insufficient data available to the HSE to robustly estimate the impact of further changes.
However, based on preliminary claiming data, it is estimated that the full year cost of reducing the DPS threshold from the current threshold of €80 per month to €40 per month would be approximately €53.6m.
This data is based on the claiming month May 2022 and is annualised to determine the full year cost (i.e., multiplied by 12).
It is important to note that this costing excludes the additional cost for individuals who are currently below the current DPS threshold level of €80 per month. It also excludes the impact resulting from an aging demographic or the impact that a loss of medical card eligibility could have on claiming under the DPS.
