Robert Troy
Question:645. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will be called for surgery in the Regional Hospital, Tullamore. [22642/23]
View answerHospital Appointments Status
Questions (645)
Written answers
Under 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.
Medicinal Products
Questions (646)
Eoin Ó Broin
Question:646. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health if he is aware there is a significant shortage of some medications at the current time; if he is aware that pharmacists are unable to indicate when the issue will be resolved; and the action, if any, his Department is taking to assist in resolving the matter in order to ensure the correct medication is available to those who require it. [22643/23]
View answerWritten answers
Unfortunately, medicine shortages are a feature of modern health systems worldwide which have been exacerbated by recent worldwide events. There are a multitude of reasons why a medicine may not be available including: shortages of raw materials; manufacturing difficulties; sudden unexpected increase in demand; or product recalls due to potential quality issues. Ireland has a multi-stakeholder medicine shortage framework in place, operated by the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) on behalf of the Department of Health. The medicine shortage framework aims to prevent, where possible, and mitigate the impact of medicines shortages. The framework allows for shortages to be carefully managed by the HPRA in close collaboration with the Department, the HSE, industry and healthcare professionals. The HPRA maintains regular contact with the Department of Health regarding medicines shortages.
The HPRA publishes a list of medicines currently in short supply on its website (Medicines Shortages (hpra.ie)) with the reason for the shortage and expected dates for the return of supply. The information is available to assist healthcare professionals in managing medicine shortages when they arise and reduce their impact on patients. The information relating to shortages on the HPRA website is dynamic and changes depending on the current information to hand.
Hospital Appointments Status
Questions (647)
Robert Troy
Question:647. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite an urgent appointment for a person (details supplied). [22644/23]
View answerWritten answers
Under 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.
Health Services Staff
Questions (648)
David Cullinane
Question:648. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on plans to deliver a living wage for home support workers and healthcare assistants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22647/23]
View answerWritten answers
In order to examine the significant workforce challenges in the home-support and nursing home sectors in Ireland, Minister Butler established the cross-departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group in March 2022. Working closely with key stakeholders, the Advisory Group made 16 recommendations to address the challenges in frontline carer roles in the home support and long-term residential care sectors.
Their report was published in October 2022 with 16 recommendations across the areas of recruitment, pay and conditions of employment, barriers to employment, training and professional development, sectoral reform, and monitoring and implementation.
Minister Butler has endorsed the Advisory Group’s recommendations. Implementation of the recommendations will be overseen by a cross departmental Implementation Group, chaired by the Department of Health. The Department is engaging with recommendation owners to define an implementation plan.
A detailed implementation plan will be published containing steps involved in delivering the recommendations in the coming months. It is envisaged that the implementation group will meet quarterly and publish progress reports thereafter.
Implementation has commenced. The first recommendation no. 9 was implemented in December 2022 with the announcement of the authorisation of 1,000 employment permits for non-EU/EEA home support workers. This promises to significantly reduce the current shortage of care workers in Ireland.
Recommendation 6 provides that all private-sector and voluntary providers should be invited to give a commitment to pay home-support workers and healthcare assistants, at a minimum, the National Living Wage (€12.90 per hour at the time of writing). Progression of this recommendation is linked to the outcome of the Tender 2023 process.
The 2018 Tender Framework for the provision of home support services was initially valid for the period 01 September 2018 to 31 December 2020. This was further extended by the HSE at the end of 2022, initially to the end of April 2023. The HSE has proposed a further extension of the contract arrangements to Friday 30th of June, to allow time to finalise tender arrangements.
The process of developing the new tender is at an advanced stage. Officials in the Department of Health are engaging at a senior level with the HSE and the HSE has ongoing engagements with home care providers to progress the new tender. No final decisions on the tender content have been reached. As a strict communication protocol applies in all phases of the procurement process it is not possible to discuss further while the process is ongoing.
Health Service Executive
Questions (649, 650)
Steven Matthews
Question:649. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health the steps he will take to repurpose disused and vacant HSE-owned buildings for community facilities or other uses; if his attention has been drawn to the high number of these properties in County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22655/23]
View answerSteven Matthews
Question:650. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health his views on the proposal from some local authorities to take up long-term leases on vacant and disused HSE-owned buildings, with a view to repurposing these buildings for community use; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22660/23]
View answerWritten answers
I, and my Department, welcome the proposals from some local authorities to take up long-term leases on vacant and disused HSE-owned buildings where the properties have been identified as being surplus to health care needs.
My department has engaged with both the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), and the Department of Housing, over the course of 2022 and 2023 in relation to the sourcing of properties which may be suitable for use in providing accommodation for refugees, and also under Housing For All.
As part of this engagement, the Department of Health has provided to DCEDIY and the Department of Housing a comprehensive overview of those properties currently owned by the HSE and surplus to health service requirements which may be suitable for the provision of accommodation. Some 300 properties were identified in the overview and details of these properties were provided to DCEDIY in 2022. Details of these properties have also been circulated to Local Authorities.
A number of properties in Country Wicklow were included in the list, 2 of which are already progressing through the official HSE property disposal process. A number of other properties in County Wicklow were identified as potentially available and are under review.
The Department of Health is engaging with the HSE to help ensure that properties which may be identified by Minister O’Gorman’s Department as suitable for use in providing accommodation for refugees can be made available as soon as is practicable.
While DCEDIY continues to engage with the HSE on the list of properties, HSE Estates advise that DCEDIY has not taken over any properties at present.
In addition to the comprehensive list of properties, the HSE have also seconded a key member of their estate accommodation team to the Interdepartmental Ukrainian Refugee Accommodation response.
The HSE must follow the official process for the disposal of properties by State bodies and agencies. When a HSE property has been vacated by a service it is necessary to establish if it is surplus to requirements and decide to retain the property in the healthcare estates. If the property is to be disposed of, the process hierarchy is set out as follows:
- Offer the property to the LDA via written notification.
- Should the LDA not choose to take up the property, under DPER Circulars 11/2015 & 17/2016 the HSE must then offer the property to other State Stakeholders via the State Property Register.
- Should no other State Stakeholders take up the property, the HSE then places the property for sale on the open market.
Should a local authority identify HSE property which they believe could be repurposed for community use, the local authority should contact the HSE in the first instance to determine if the property is vacant and surplus to health care needs.
The Department of Health and the HSE will continue to support the whole-of-government response to the important issues of providing accommodation for refugees and Housing for All.
Question No. 650 answered with Question No. 649.
Health Services
Questions (651)
Chris Andrews
Question:651. Deputy Chris Andrews asked the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) who has mobility issues will be given an urgent appointment to see an occupational therapist. [22670/23]
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.
Question No. 652 answered with Question No. 641.
Covid-19 Pandemic Supports
Questions (653)
Fergus O'Dowd
Question:653. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health the reason a person (details supplied) has not received the €1,000 pandemic recognition payment, having worked in a nursing home throughout the pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22695/23]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly.
I would also like to remind the Deputy that it is against Department policy to comment on individual cases.
Mental Health Services
Questions (654, 655)
Mark Ward
Question:654. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if he has any plans to reduce the number of CAMHS teams from the current total of 73; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22699/23]
View answerMark Ward
Question:655. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if he has any plans to amalgamate some CAMHS teams; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22700/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 654 and 655 together.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
Question No. 655 answered with Question No. 654.
Health Services
Questions (656)
Willie O'Dea
Question:656. Deputy Willie O'Dea asked the Minister for Health if the HSE in the midwest will provide physiotherapy for children diagnosed with primary lymphoedema; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22702/23]
View answerWritten answers
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Home Help Service
Questions (657)
Bernard Durkan
Question:657. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if emergency home help can be facilitated in the case of a person (details supplied); if the appropriate contact can be made with the person's family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22704/23]
View answerWritten answers
As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Mental Health Services
Questions (658)
Bernard Durkan
Question:658. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health if dialectical behaviour therapy treatment is due to continue locally in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22705/23]
View answerWritten answers
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 Staff
Questions (659)
Mark Ward
Question:659. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the work being carried out to rectify shortages of public health nurses at seven locations in Dublin (details supplied); the options available to families in these areas whose children are not being seen in a timely manner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22723/23]
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.
Nursing Homes
Questions (660)
Fergus O'Dowd
Question:660. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 669 of 22 February 2022, if an update can be provided on the number of social work investigations, reviews, NIRP reports, independent reviews or other investigative processes that have been completed or are underway and-or scheduled within the HSE older persons services department since from 2020 to date, by type of concern and process of review or investigation used; the details relating to HSE-funded services in which the processes were initiated following reports and-or concerns related to physical, sexual, emotional, financial or institutional abuse or neglect of adult residents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22736/23]
View answerWritten answers
As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
Home Care Packages
Questions (661)
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:661. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health the funding proposals he has considered for the HSE Home Support Tender 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22747/23]
View answerWritten answers
Government is committed to promoting care in the community for older people so that they can continue to live in their own homes for as long as possible. Home support is an increasingly important part of the supports we offer to older people and will continue to increase in importance into the future, as our ageing population grows.
The Home Support Service is funded by Government to deliver a volume of service each year as approved in the HSE National Service Plan which is subject to the annual estimates process. It is a non-statutory service and access to the current service is based on assessment of the person’s care needs by the HSE, having regard to the available resources and competing demands for services. Home Support services are provided by both directly employed Healthcare Support Assistants and Approved Providers with service arrangements with the HSE through the tender.
The process of developing the new tender is at an advanced stage. Officials in the Department of Health are engaging at a senior level with the HSE and the HSE has ongoing engagements with home care providers to progress the new tender. No final decisions on the tender content have been reached. As a strict communication protocol applies in all phases of the procurement process it is not possible to discuss specific funding proposals at this time.
Home Care Packages
Questions (662)
Pádraig O'Sullivan
Question:662. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health when the HSE will go to market with a tender (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22748/23]
View answerWritten answers
As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.