Written Answers Nos. 542-563
542. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of all the radiotherapy machines in University Hospital Cork, by the type of machine, when it was first used in the hospital, any gaps in service for any machine between the following dates 1 January 2020 to date, in tabular form. [43929/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
543. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of all the radiotherapy machines in St. Vincent's Hospital, by the type of machine, when it was first used in the hospital, any gaps in service for any machine between the following dates 1 January 2020 to date, in tabular form. [43930/23]
View answerRadiation oncology services are delivered across three public sites – Galway University Hospital, St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network (made up of St. Luke’s Rathgar, Beaumont Hospital and St James’s Hospital) and Cork University Hospital, with two private providers providing this service for public patients in UPMC Whitfield Hospital Waterford and Mid-Western Regional Limerick. As Minister for Health, I have no remit over the private radiotherapy services being delivered in St. Vincent’s University Hospital.
544. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of all the radiotherapy machines in St. James's Hospital, by the type of machine, when it was first used in the hospital, any gaps in service for any machine between the following dates 1 January 2020 to date, in tabular form. [43931/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
545. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of all the radiotherapy machines in Galway University Hospital, by the type of machine, when it was first used in the hospital, any gaps in service for any machine between the following dates 1 January 2020 to date, in tabular form. [43932/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
546. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health for a breakdown of all the radiotherapy machines in Tallaght Hospital, by the type of machine, when it was first used in the hospital, any gaps in service for any machine between the following dates 1 January 2020 to date, in tabular form. [43933/23]
View answerRadiation oncology services are delivered across three public sites – Galway University Hospital, St. Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network (made up of St. Luke’s Rathgar, Beaumont Hospital and St James’s Hospital) and Cork University Hospital – with two private providers providing this service for public patients in UPMC Whitfield Hospital Waterford and Mid-Western Regional Limerick. As Minister for Health I have no remit over the private radiotherapy services being delivered in Tallaght University Hospital.
548. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Health the status of an application for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43947/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
549. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health to give urgent attention to a problem (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43964/23]
View answerOfficials from the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth with support from the Department of Health, the HSE and Tusla attended a number of engagements with trade unions under the auspices of the WRC over recent months.
That process culminated in an offer being made to unions. The offer was in line with those accepted by community and voluntary staff in other sectors. The offer to workers in this sector amounted to a 5% increase in funding for pay effective from November 2023, with 3% backdated to April 2023. A commitment to re-engage with trade union representatives following any further public sector pay agreement was also offered.
This combined offer was not accepted by trade union representatives, and it is disappointing that their members were not afforded the opportunity to vote on whether they wished to accept the 5% increase in pay funding.
The Unions have balloted for industrial action and have advised they intend to strike from the 17th of October (2023).
Any industrial action will impact negatively on service users and the Departments urge all parties to work on resolving any disputes through the appropriate forums, in the interests of users of these services. Government remains committed to working with the unions to resolve these matters.
While Government has engaged in this process, it is worth noting that Section 39 and Section 56 organisations are privately owned and operated, and the terms and conditions of employment for staff in those organisations are ultimately between the employer and their employee. The Government is not the employer for any of these staff. As this is an ongoing Industrial relations matter it would be inappropriate to comment any further.
550. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health the reason (details supplied) is waiting so long on a procedure in Cappagh Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43966/23]
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.
551. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health to examine an issue where a person (details supplied) is unable to register with a GP; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43968/23]
View answerGPs are private practitioners, most of whom hold a contract with the HSE for the provision of health services. Under the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services to medical card and GP visit card holders.
For GMS patients unable to locate a GP themselves, the HSE may assign an eligible person to be included on a medical practitioner's GMS list, in accordance with the GMS contract.
People 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. As private practitioners, it is a matter for each individual GP to decide whether to accept additional private patients. Where a GP practice has a full list of patients and cannot take on new patients, patients should contact other GP practices in the surrounding areas.
The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice, including the limited access to GP services in certain areas, and is working to ensure that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future.
Under the 2019 GP Agreement additional annual expenditure provided for general practice has been increased now by €211.6m. This provides for significant increases in capitation fees for participating GMS GPs, and new fees and subsidies for additional services. Improvements to GP’s maternity and paternity leave arrangements and a support for GPs in disadvantaged urban areas, have also been provided for. In addition, the enhanced supports package for rural GP practices was increased by 10%.
The recent GP Agreement 2023 announced in July, which provides for the expansions of GP care without charges to those who earn up to the median household income and to children aged 6 & 7, includes additional capacity supports to enable the expansion and retention of staffing within general practice. It includes additional supports for GP Out of Hours services also.
These measures will make general practice in Ireland a more attractive career choice and will see an increase in the number of GPs working in the State, improving access to GP services for patients throughout the country.
The number of doctors entering GP training has been increased in recent years, with 287 new entrants for this year and 350 places for new entrants planned for next year. Annual intake to the GP training scheme has been increased by over 80% since 2015. Furthermore, the joint HSE and ICGP programme underway to bring up to 100 non-EU GPs to Ireland in 2023 will help to quickly improve access to GP services, particularly in areas with limited access. It is planned to bring to Ireland up to 250 more non-EU GPs by the end of 2024.
Lastly, my Department and the HSE have commenced a Strategic Review of General Practice. The review, with input from key stakeholders, will examine the broad range of issues affecting general practice, including issues related to GP capacity, and will set out the measures necessary to deliver a more sustainable general practice into the future.
552. Deputy Michael Lowry asked the Minister for Health the number of days from January 2022 to the end of September 2023 during which radiation oncology services at University Hospital Limerick were unavailable due to breakdowns in radiotherapy machinery/equipment, in tabular form; the average duration required to repair radiotherapy machinery/equipment at UHL; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43973/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
554. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health whether he is aware that many GP practices are charging fees to medical card holders for the administration of necessary injections (including blood tests) contrary to the Provision of Services under Section 58 of the Health Act 1970; his plans to make patients aware that they should not be charged these fees; the action he is taking to prevent this situation from continuing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43980/23]
View answerGP services are provided without charge to people who hold a medical card or GP visit card under the GMS scheme. Under the terms of the current GMS contract, GPs are required to provide eligible patients with ''all proper and necessary treatment of a kind usually undertaken by a general practitioner and not requiring special skill or experience of a degree or kind which general practitioners cannot reasonably be expected to possess.".
The issue of GPs charging GMS patients for phlebotomy services (blood tests) is complex given the numerous reasons and circumstances under which blood tests are taken. Clinical determinations as to whether a blood test should taken to either assist in the diagnosis of illness or the treatment of a condition are made by the GP concerned. There is no provision under the GMS GP contract for persons who hold a medical card or GP visit card to be charged for such blood tests.
In addition, blood tests undertaken in the context of services provided under the GP Chronic Disease Management Programme are covered by the fees paid to GPs by the HSE for this care.
The issue of certain GPs charging GMS patients for necessary blood tests has been raised previously with the relevant GP representative body. However, it did not prove possible to achieve agreement that no charges for blood tests would be applied in any circumstances.
Likewise, in regard to other services, it is a matter for the treating GP to determine in the case of each individual patient what is proper and necessary care. In circumstances where a GP, in the exercise of their clinical judgement, determines that a particular treatment or service requested by a patient is not clinically necessary, but the patient still wishes to receive the treatment, it is at the GPs discretion as to whether they impose a charge for providing the service/treatment in question.
Where a patient who holds a medical card or GP visit card believes they have been incorrectly charged for routine phlebotomy services or for a different service by their GP, then that patient should report the matter to their HSE Local Health Office. The local management, upon being notified of potential inappropriate charging of a GMS patient, will contact the GP concerned and carry out an investigation into each complaint and, where appropriate, will arrange for a refund of charges incorrectly applied by the GP.
555. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health if he plans to upgrade the status of Letterkenny University Hospital from a model 3 hospital. [44006/23]
View answerLetterkenny University Hospital (LUH) is a Model 3 Hospital, operating as part of the Saolta University Health Care Group. LUH is an Acute General and Maternity Hospital, providing a wide range of local and regional services on an in-patient, day case and out-patient basis. The budget allocation for LUH in 2023 is €177 million, an increase on the 2022 allocation. As at April 2023, 2,144 Whole Time Equivalents were employed by LUH.
There has been significant investment in services in LUH in recent years. Capital projects completed in the last two years include:
- the expansion of gynaecology services
- the opening of the acute stroke unit
- the provision of an additional endoscopy theatre and a new maternity theatre
- and the provision of additional patient beds.
As part of the HSE Capital Plan 2023, projects planned and underway include the expansion of the Renal Dialysis Unit, the expansion of the Haematology/Oncology Day Unit and the Electrical Infrastructure Upgrade. The extent of recent and upcoming developments illustrates Government's commitment to LUH and to patients in the North West.
Funding for current expenditure is allocated on an annual (single-year) basis through the Estimates process with future levels of funding considered as part of the national estimates and budgetary process. Decisions on the funding of services are being made in the context of the Estimates process for 2024.
556. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health if he will ask the HSE to include Donegal town as one of the locations for a surgical hub, due to its location between Sligo University Hospital and Letterkenny University Hospital and to support the ability of surgeons and consultants to work through the long waiting lists for surgical procedures at both hospitals and to deliver equality of access to healthcare for the people of the north-west. [44007/23]
View answerThe HSE is currently planning for the establishment of Surgical Hubs to assist in delivering elective care to patients across the country. These will be modelled on the successful Reeves Centre at Tallaght University Hospital which has significantly reduced waiting times for certain day-case procedures.
Planning by the HSE for the Surgical Hubs includes deliverables and timescales for the work, the proposed model of care, and an approach to completing the work.
As noted by the Government at its meeting on 7 December 2022 the HSE will work with hospital groups to progress these hubs in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Galway and Dublin. On 26 May the site locations for these Hubs were announced, noting that there would be two in Dublin (North and South).
557. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the number of inpatient discharges for every acute hospital in the State in 2022 and 2023, in tabular form. [44008/23]
View answerPlease see the table at the link.
Inpatient Discharges by Hospital 2016 to 2023
Source:
(i) This data is sourced from the Hospital In-patient Enquiry (HIPE) database.
(ii) Data for 2023 is not fully coded yet and figures for this year should be considered provisional up to August 2023
(iii) Data for 2022 is now considered as final
Notes:
(i) The HIPE database record discharges, not patients. The figures in this table relate to number of inpatient discharges, not individual patients
(ii) An Inpatient is a person who was admitted as a patient to hospital and stayed overnight
558. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Health the budget allocated to every acute hospital in the State in 2022 and 2023, in tabular form. [44009/23]
View answerAs the data for 2023 has not yet been published I have referred the question to the HSE. Please see attached the Full year Budgets by Hospital for 2022.
559. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the total number of beds in use in each HSE area in public nursing homes for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44010/23]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
560. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the payment of the Covid bonus; and whether he has an estimate of those who have yet to receive payment. [44019/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly.
561. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health if there are plans to address the fact that there are no chiropodists currently available under the public health system in Finglas (details supplied); his plans to address the matter; the actions that have been taken to provide this type of care in the Finglas area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44026/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
562. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Health the steps that are being taken to improve the early diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44038/23]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
563. Deputy Brendan Howlin asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that there are an estimated 3,000 trained nurses from India and the Philippines currently working in Ireland; if he plans to allow those who wish to have their nursing qualifications recognised by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and those who need additional language training to progress to recognition as nurses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44039/23]
View answer581. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health if he will grant NMBI nursing registration after the successful completion of adaptation training or RCSI aptitude test, to those health care assistants with a nursing degree diploma from their home country and have been working in Ireland for at least two years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44095/23]
View answerAs the Deputies will be aware, all nurses and midwives who practise in Ireland must be registered on the Register of Nurses and Midwives, maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI). Along with the NMBI, as the regulator for the professions of nursing and midwifery, I welcome registration applications from those that were educated overseas as they seek to join the health service workforce in the State.
The NMBI are the independent, statutory body which sets the standards for the education of nurses and midwives in Ireland and have a function in safeguarding the public. Ensuring patient safety and protecting the public is a core function of the NMBI and therefore rigorous evaluation of information and thorough regulatory checks are required when processing applications from those who want to practise in Ireland.
To register to become a nurse or midwife, all applicants need to complete a two-stage process:??
Recognition of Qualifications
Registration.?
In the first stage, Recognition of Qualifications, an NMBI Education Assessor will assess evidence of the applicant’s education, qualifications, and credentials against the NMBI standards and requirements to practise in Ireland. Once the application has been assessed as satisfactory, a decision letter will issue from the NMBI.
Where the NMBI Education Assessor identifies a gap between the applicant’s education, qualifications, and credentials and the NMBI Standards and Requirements, the decision letter will inform the applicant that there is a requirement to complete a ‘compensation measure’. These compensation measures are either a paid period of adaptation or an aptitude test; these are mechanisms which allow an applicant to demonstrate their competency to meet the NMBI Standards and Requirements. Once the applicant has completed the compensation measure successfully, the recognition process is complete, and they can apply for registration.
As part of the second stage, all registration applicants must demonstrate to the NMBI that they have the necessary proficiency in English to communicate effectively and safely in their practise. For many overseas educated applicants, this means taking an English language test and submitting a certificate of test results. The NMBI recognises both the International English Language Test System (IELTS) and Occupational English Test (OET) as verified test providers. IELTS and OET are valid for two years across all Irish regulators and Canadian, Australian, American and UK regulators. This is also the standard validation period across immigration services internationally.
These language tests are carried out by independent third parties, internationally recognised for providing rigorous and evidence-based professional or occupational English testing, specifically for healthcare professionals. Tests can be taken in Ireland, or nearly all other countries.
I have been advised by my Department that, in order to facilitate a particular cohort of applicants, and in response to requests, the NMBI’s Registration Committee has recently agreed to extend the period of validity for English Language test results for a defined cohort of applicants. A three-month extension is now available for applicants:
• who have previously passed an English language test with a satisfactory score
• whose test expired within three months of application for registration
• who has evidence of delay in application due to ATWS issues (evidence of rejections in 2023), and
• who has successfully completed a compensation measure in 2023.
