Written Answers Nos. 1357-1376
1358. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Clare will receive an appointment for a procedure at Ennis General Hospital, UL Hospitals Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13128/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1359. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Health given the urgent need to fast track the re-build and restoration of Wexford General Hospital, and ensure that vital services are restored there as soon as possible, if he will use the powers available to him under Section 181(2)(a) of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to remove the necessity to go through a planning process in the reconstruction of the damaged building and the provision of temporary or modular facilities, and to commence the building of the planned 96-bed unit at the hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13142/23]
View answerA Major Emergency was declared at Wexford General Hospital 1st March 2023 following a serious fire event. No injuries or accidents to patients or staff have been reported. HSE Estates and local services are working to access the extent of the damage and safely bring back services as soon as possible. Maternity services at the Hospital resumed on Friday 3rd March. Hospital Wards are being brought back into use on a phased basis. The decision to re-open wards is made by local management taking into account operational and service realities.
The use of modular facilities at Wexford General Hospital is currently under consideration.
I can confirm the 96-bed ward block at Wexford General Hospital project is included in the Capital Programme for 2023, and funding has been allocated in 2023 to progress the project.
Given recent events at Wexford General Hospital, both my Department and the HSE are focused on repairing fire damage and restoring the hospital to full functionality. We will be exploring opportunities to expedite the 96 bed ward project in the context of the overall works to restore capacity at Wexford General Hospital as soon as is possible. Any decision relating to expediting works will take into account operational and service realities at Wexford General Hospital.
My officials and I are exploring all available opportunities to ensure that services at Wexford General Hospital are safely restored as soon as possible. I can confirm that I have engaged with the Attorney General to determine whether any of the exemptions that were effectively applied during the pandemic and Brexit could be utilised to deliver health infrastructure more quickly and this consideration is currently underway.
1360. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the arrangements in place to ensure dialysis patients can get treatment in different centres around the country to allow them visit relatives or go on holiday within the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13144/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1361. Deputy Jim O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the status of the safe staffing framework and safe staffing levels in hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13145/23]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, the Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix is an evidence-based approach to determining safe staffing and skill mix levels for nursing and healthcare assistants and has been policy since 2018. The Framework, built on the principle that patients are individuals, determines nurse staffing levels based on care requirements. The impact of implementing the Framework is demonstrated by measuring a range of outcomes such as, including care left undone, staff satisfaction, levels of violence and aggression, and cost.
The Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in General and Specialist Medical and Surgical Care Settings in Ireland (Phase 1) was launched in 2018 and The Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in Adult Emergency Care Settings in Ireland (Phase 2) was launched on 2 June 2022. I am committed to full implementation of Phases 1 and 2 of the Framework.
Phase 3 of the Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing in Community settings comprises: (i) Long-Term residential care settings for older persons, (ii) Community care settings, and (iii) Step-down and Rehabilitation settings.
My Department is currently testing the first part of Phase 3 of the Framework for Safe Nurse and Skill Mix in public and private Long-Term residential care settings for older persons which includes community hospitals. Based on the evidence and in line with the recommendation of the COVID-19 Nursing Home Expert Panel, it is my intention that Phase 3(i) be developed into a national policy in line with other phases.
Since 2020, over €31.2 million has been allocated to the Framework with €25 million of this investment providing for an additional 470 whole time equivalent (WTE) registered nurses and healthcare assistants across model 4 hospitals. The balance of €6.2 million in funding will provide for an additional 101 WTE registered nurses, as part of Phase 2, specifically for Emergency Departments.
The major challenges to implementation have been the COVID-19 pandemic and recruitment difficulties. Nevertheless, the HSE has reported a significant increase in the nursing workforce in model 4 hospitals as 74% of the funded positions have been filled to date, with recruitment continuing for the remaining posts.
A National Safe Staffing Unit, led by a Director of Nursing, has been established within the HSE and is responsible for oversight of the national implementation plan for safe nurse staffing and skill mix. I also allocated €0.2million in 2022, to further develop the unit, within the HSE, to support implementation of Phases 1 and 2 of the Framework in parallel. My Department is represented on the National Safe Nurse Staffing Oversight Group which monitors overall implementation progress.
The Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing determines the required workforce and skill mix for the nursing workforce, that is nurses and healthcare assistants. It does not include determining the required workforce and skill mix for any other healthcare workers.
Regarding staffing levels, the HSE has reported that there are 68,066 whole time equivalents employed across the six hospital groups. This represents an increase of 11,119 WTE since the beginning of 2020.
As the staffing levels employed within the hospitals is an operational matter for the HSE, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on that particular element.
1362. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the average patient waiting time from arrival at the emergency department in Naas General Hospital to admission for each individual month of 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form, for the cohort under-75 and over-75 years, respectively; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13149/23]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the HSE to reply to the Deputy directly with the requested information.
1363. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health if Naas General Hospital is operating at its full complement of medical staff at all levels and across all disciplines; the number of staff it is missing in each of these levels and disciplines; the length of vacancy of each, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13150/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.
1364. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations by Naas General Hospital, by appointment type, in each of the months of 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13151/23]
View answerI fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when elective procedures are cancelled, particularly for clinically urgent procedures. While every effort is made to avoid cancellation or postponement of planned procedures, the HSE has advised that planned procedures and operations can be postponed or cancelled for a variety of reasons including capacity issues due to increased scheduled and unscheduled care demand.
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.
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.
1365. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the bed-occupancy rate at Naas General Hospital for each week of 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form; the number of beds available for the period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13152/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
1366. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the mean, median and maximum wait time on the NTPF reported waiting lists, by speciality, for each month of 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023 for Naas General Hospital, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13153/23]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for many scheduled appointments and procedures were too long before and have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. 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.
On 7 March, I published the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, which is the next stage of a new multi-annual approach to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists, and builds on the foundational work done through the short-term Waiting List Action Plan between September and December 2021, which was followed by the first full year Waiting List Action Plan for 2022, both having reversed the annual trend of rising waiting lists.
The 2023 Plan sets out the priorities to continue to address waiting lists this year. The 30 actions in the Plan, which are governed by the Waiting List Task Force, focus on delivering capacity, reforming scheduled care, and enabling scheduled care reform.
For 2023, funding totalling €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists with €363 million of this being allocated to the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, to implement longer term reforms and provide additional public and private activity to clear backlogs exacerbated during the pandemic.
This will reduce hospital waiting lists by 10% in 2023 as well as continuing to significantly reduce waiting times in line with Sláintecare recommendations. The remaining €80 million of the €443 million is being targeted at various measures to alleviate community/primary care waiting lists.
With this ambitious 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are taking the next steps in the multi-annual approach towards achieving our vision of a world-class public healthcare system in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it, in line with Sláintecare reforms.
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.
1367. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of people aged over 65 and over 75 years on NTPF reported waiting lists, by specialty, in each month of 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in Naas General Hospital; the mean, median, and maximum wait time, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13154/23]
View answerIt is recognised that waiting times for many scheduled appointments and procedures were too long before and have been made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic. 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. On 7 March, I published the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, which is the next stage of a new multi-annual approach to sustainably reduce and reform hospital waiting lists, and builds on the foundational work done through the short-term Waiting List Action Plan between September and December 2021, which was followed by the first full year Waiting List Action Plan for 2022, both having reversed the annual trend of rising waiting lists.
The 2023 Plan sets out the priorities to continue to address waiting lists this year. The 30 actions in the Plan, which are governed by the Waiting List Task Force, focus on delivering capacity, reforming scheduled care and enabling scheduled care reform.
For 2023, funding totalling €443 million is being allocated to tackle Waiting Lists with €363 million of this being allocated to the 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, to implement longer term reforms and provide additional public and private activity to clear backlogs exacerbated during the pandemic. This will reduce hospital waiting lists by 10% in 2023 as well as continuing to significantly reduce waiting times in line with Sláintecare recommendations. The remaining €80 million of the €443 million is being targeted at various measures to alleviate community/primary care waiting lists.
With this ambitious 2023 Waiting List Action Plan, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are taking the next steps in the multi-annual approach towards achieving our vision of a world-class public healthcare system in which everyone has timely and transparent access to high-quality scheduled care, where and when they need it, in line with Sláintecare reforms.
In relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the NTPF have provided the attached information to my Department which outlines the number of people aged over 65 and over 75 on NTPF reported waiting lists in Naas General Hospital, by specialty, in each month of 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023.
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.
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1367-21-03-2023_en.xlsx">Nass Hospital Over 65s & over 75s</a>]
1368. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on diagnostic waiting lists at the end of each quarter of 2021 and 2022 at Naas General Hospital, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13155/23]
View answerThe HSE advises that a pilot project commenced in 2016 by the HSE Acute Hospitals Division to progress the collection of national radiology waiting list data. The project has been supported by the Radiology Clinical Care Programme and has involved key stakeholders across the system including the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS) Team, Hospital Groups, and the support of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) for data collection and data management expertise.
The NTPF has advised my Department that they are unable to provide information on diagnostic waiting lists by individual hospital as requested by the Deputy.
The attached documents set out information on CT, MRI and Ultrasound diagnostic waiting lists in each hospital group at the end of each quarter in 2021 and 2022. The HSE advises that, at present, further diagnostic scans (including cholangiopancreatography, electroencephalogram, angiogram, and bone scan), are not yet captured as part of the pilot project.
The information that is currently being collected is presently being tested and validated at hospital, hospital group and national level and as such should not be used/reported without the context of the caveats set out below:
- Data is subject to inclusions and exclusions which are documented in the Data Profile Document. This document is available from Acute Operations and has been circulated to all Hospital Groups.
- Data contains urgent, routine and surveillance/planned activity which is currently not broken down in detail, as such this includes surveillance/planned activity which may not be exceeding planned date.
- Data is still undergoing validation at Hospital and Hospital Group level.
- Data does not take into account local nuances at site level (Site profile developed to support understanding of same).
- The purpose of this aggregate data is to provide a National Level overview of the number of patients waiting for modalities of CT, MRI and Ultrasound.
- This report is not intended to be used for the active management of hospital diagnostics waiting list, local reports and mechanisms should continue to be used for the management of diagnostics waiting lists at hospital level.
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq-1368a-21-03-2023_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q1 2021</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368b-21-03-2023_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q2 2021</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368c-21-03-2023_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q3 2021</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368d-21-03-2023_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q4 2021</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368e_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q1 2022</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368f-21-03-203_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q2 2022</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368g-21-03-2023_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q3 2022</a>]
[< ahref="https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/debates/questions/supportingDocumentation/2023-03-21_pq1368h-21-03-2023_en.pdf ">Diagnostic Waiting List Report Q4 2022</a>]
1369. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of patients on home support waiting lists for each month of 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023 in community healthcare organisation or CHO7; the length of wait, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13156/23]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible
1370. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Health the number of people on the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, waiting lists by length of wait for 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023 for the community healthcare organisation or CHO7 area, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13158/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1371. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Health , further to Parliamentary Question No. 184 of 1 March, the reason Irish citizens who accepted a place in an Irish medical school directly from the medical school rather than through a CAO offer are discriminated against when internship posts are offered, given that the work permit requirement does not apply; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13163/23]
View answerThe policy decision regarding the allocation of medical intern places was put in place in 2016 to ensure CAO entry medical graduates are guaranteed an internship place following completion of their medical degrees. It is a priority that these CAO graduates have access to internships in order that they may obtain full registration with the Medical Council of Ireland, and subsequently obtain specialist registration with a view to permanent employment in the Irish health service. This protects the State investment in the undergraduate education of CAO medical students. It supports Ireland’s commitment under the World Health Organization’s Global Code on the Recruitment of International Health Personnel to strive for self-sufficiency in the domestic production of doctors.
Following the allocation of intern posts to applicants through the CAO system, the remaining posts are preferentially allocated to all remaining eligible work permit exempt and EEA applicants. Non-EEA applicants have always been subject to work permit legislation requirements and are offered intern places that have not been taken up by eligible work permit exempt and EEA applicants at the first stage of offers.
Taking into account the candidate’s centile and whether a candidate was offered and accepted through the CAO system the top ranked candidate will be matched to his / her first preferred specific Intern post. There were 854 medical Intern posts available for the 2022/23 training year. In the July 2022/23 intern year intake, all eligible candidates who applied for an intern post, were offered an intern post.
1372. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health if he will respond to concerns raised in a report and correspondence (details supplied) in respect of waiting lists for home care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13164/23]
View answerImproving access to home support is a priority for the Government. Since 2020 we have provided over €200 million in additional funding for home support and this year the overall budget will be more than €700 million. This will enable the HSE to progress the development of a reformed model of service delivery to underpin the statutory scheme for the financing and regulation of home support services. It will also fund nearly 24 million hours of home support and the dementia-specific proportion of new home support hours will increase from 5% in 2021 to 15% in 2023.
The delivery of home support hours in communities is increasing, in line with this enhanced investment. In 2020, 17.55 million hours of home support was provided, by 2022 this had increased to almost 20.8 million hours. In addition, over 100,000 hours was provided as part of a 2022 pilot testing of the Statutory Home Support Scheme.
In 2023 the plan is to deliver 23.9 million hours. The HSE has reported that 1.7 million hours was provided in January 2023 (latest preliminary available data). This represents an increase of 4.7% compared to the same period in 2022. In addition, as of 31 January 2023, 56,272 people were receiving home support, up 3.8% compared with January 2022.
Delivering this enhanced capacity requires substantial recruitment and strategic workforce challenges are in evidence in the sector. A detailed implementation plan will be published in the coming months containing timelines and steps involved in delivering each of the recommendations of an Advisory Group, which I established last year to examine these challenges. The implementation group will meet quarterly, and my Department will publish progress reports. In the meantime, I am pleased to advise the Deputy that Recommendation number 9 has already been implemented. The statutory instrument authorising the issuance of 1,000 employment permits for homecare workers was signed on 16 December 2022.
The HSE continues to advertise on an ongoing basis for Health Care Support Assistants and recruits as many suitable candidates as possible. The Executive has begun the recruitment process for 128 interRAI Care Needs Facilitators. These will enable the roll out the interRAI system nationally, as the standard tool for assessing an individual’s care needs and to prioritise resources.
1373. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13165/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
1374. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive an appointment from Beaumont Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13168/23]
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.
