Róisín Shortall
Question:139. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of children and young persons on waiting lists for an assessment of need by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46342/22]
View answerDisabilities Assessments
Questions (139)
Written answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Services
Questions (140)
Róisín Shortall
Question:140. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for ophthalmology by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46343/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Services
Questions (141)
Róisín Shortall
Question:141. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for audiology by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46344/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Services
Questions (142)
Róisín Shortall
Question:142. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for podiatry by CHO, and age category; and time waiting in tabular form. [46345/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Mental Health Services
Questions (143)
Róisín Shortall
Question:143. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for community psychology services by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46346/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Mental Health Services
Questions (144)
Róisín Shortall
Question:144. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for counselling services by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46347/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
Mental Health Services
Questions (145)
Róisín Shortall
Question:145. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for CAMHS by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46348/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
Health Services
Questions (146)
Róisín Shortall
Question:146. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for dietetics by CHO, age category and time waiting in tabular form. [46349/22]
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.
Hospital Waiting Lists
Questions (147)
Róisín Shortall
Question:147. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on an acute hospital waiting list by age category, hospital, speciality and time waiting in tabular form. [46350/22]
View answerWritten answers
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 are still impacted by operational challenges arising from the pandemic.
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 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.
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.
In relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, a breakdown of waiting lists by specialty, by adult and child age group, by time band for each hospital is published monthly and is available on the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) website at: www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm
Hospital Facilities
Questions (148)
Róisín Shortall
Question:148. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of acute inpatient, critical care and step-down beds planned for 2022 and 2023, in tabular form; the number delivered to date, by quarter; the number of outstanding beds to be delivered in 2022 and 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46354/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Services Staff
Questions (149)
Róisín Shortall
Question:149. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of vacant posts in children’s disability network teams, by post and team in tabular form. [46355/22]
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As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Health Services Staff
Questions (150)
Róisín Shortall
Question:150. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent staff who have been recruited into the HSE since the beginning of 2022; the number of staff who have retired or left the HSE in the same period; the expected number of staff who will retire or leave the HSE in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46356/22]
View answerWritten answers
I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy on this matter.
Health Strategies
Questions (151)
Róisín Shortall
Question:151. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on implementation of the National Oral Health Policy; the progress to date on reforming the dental treatment services scheme; the steps that are being taken to address the difficulties faced by medical card patients accessing dental services in some areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46357/22]
View answerWritten answers
The Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) provides dental care free of charge to medical card holders aged 16 and over. Both I and the Government have been concerned for some time that medical card patients in some parts of the country have been experiencing problems in accessing dental services. The problem became particularly acute over the last couple of years as a significant number of contracted dentists chose to opt out of the DTSS.
I secured an additional €10 million in Budget 2022 to provide for expanded dental health care for medical card holders including the reintroduction of Scale and Polish. To address the concerns of contractors about the viability of the Scheme, I am using an estimated €16 million of an underspend in this year’s estimate allocation (€56 million) to award fee increases across a number of items including fillings. The combination of these two measures represents an estimated total additional investment of €26 million in the Scheme this year over and above what was spent on the Scheme in 2021, €40 million.
Following consultation with the Irish Dental Association, these new measures came into effect on 1st May. I would hope that this substantial additional investment in the Scheme will encourage more and more dentists to provide care to medical card patients. The numbers of patients being seen and the numbers of treatments being provided under the DTSS have started to increase in recent months. Patients are also accessing the preventative scale and polish which has been reintroduced, which is a positive development.
These are interim measures designed to address immediate concerns with the Scheme pending a more substantive reform of dental services. It is my intention that this is addressed in the context of the implementation of the National Oral Health Policy, which sets out a body of substantial services reform. Work is underway on a governance framework for this root and branch service reform.
I have been assured by the HSE that their local services on the ground will assist any persons who are still experiencing problems in accessing a service.
Dental Services
Questions (152)
Róisín Shortall
Question:152. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists participating in the dental treatment services scheme, by LHO, in tabular form. [46358/22]
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.
Dental Services
Questions (153)
Róisín Shortall
Question:153. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists who have left the dental treatment services scheme since 2015, by LHO and year, in tabular form. [46359/22]
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.