Thomas Gould
Question:798. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of children in Cork currently awaiting a scoliosis operation, by waiting time, in tabular form. [54824/23]
View answerHospital Waiting Lists
Questions (798)
Written answers
In relation to the particular query raised, the National Treatment Purchase Fund has advised my Department that there were 11 children from County Cork who were awaiting scoliosis surgery in Children's Health Ireland Hospital Group (CHI) at the end of November, 5 patients waiting 0-6 months and 6 patients waiting over 6 months. There are no children on an inpatient waiting list for scoliosis surgery in any of the public hospitals in Cork.
Mental Health Services
Questions (799)
Thomas Gould
Question:799. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE staff in each of the Cork CAMHS teams and the number considered a full cohort, by role, in tabular form. [54825/23]
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.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
Addiction Treatment Services
Questions (800)
Thomas Gould
Question:800. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health for an update on the proposed supervised injection facilities in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. [54826/23]
View answerWritten answers
The Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Act 2017 was passed to allow for the establishment, licensing, operation and regulation of supervised injecting facilities.
The Government decision approving the provision of supervised injecting facilities envisaged the establishment of a facility in Dublin city centre on a pilot basis.
This is a key action in the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, (action 2.2.29).
In December 2022, An Bord Pleanála approved planning permission for Merchants Quay Ireland (MQI) to establish the SIF, on a pilot basis for 18 months.
The HSE has engaged with MQI to agree a timetable and costings to develop the SIF. Plans to refurbish the premises at MQI are underway and it is expected that the works will commence in early 2024 and be completed by quarter 3, 2024. The Department of Health has allocated €1.5m to the HSE to cover the annual running costs of the facility.
I am informed that the supervised injecting facility is likely to open in quarter 4, 2024. The facility will be evaluated over the 18 month pilot phase and the findings will inform decisions about the continuation of the Dublin facility and the development of new facilities in other regions.
Primary Care Centres
Questions (801)
Thomas Gould
Question:801. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health for an update on the provision of primary care centres in Blarney, Mayfield and Glanmire. [54827/23]
View answerWritten answers
As the Health Service Executive (HSE) holds responsibility for the provision, along with the maintenance and operation of Primary Care Centres, I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
The Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
General Practitioner Services
Questions (802)
Thomas Gould
Question:802. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of GMS GPs in Cork, by LHO, in 2017 and as of the latest date available in 2023. [54828/23]
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.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
Medical Cards
Questions (803)
Thomas Gould
Question:803. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health the number of GMS patients in Cork, by LHO, in 2017 and the latest date available in 2023. [54829/23]
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.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
Abortion Services
Questions (804)
Carol Nolan
Question:804. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health to provide a soft copy of the report of the review by the HSE of the model of care with regard to remote consultation as part of termination of pregnancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54869/23]
View answerWritten answers
In September 2021, my Department requested the HSE’s National Women & Infants Health Programme (NWIHP) to undertake a review of the operation of the revised Model of Care for Termination of Pregnancy Services, from a clinical and patient safety perspective. The purpose of the review was to consider whether the revised Model of Care should be retained going forward.
This review was completed at the end of 2021 and submitted to my Department. The review stated that there were no serious adverse events reported to the HSE related to remote consultations for termination of pregnancy.
This review concluded that including remote consultation as part of the termination of pregnancy service is safe, effective and acceptable to both service users and providers. The outcome of this review was reflected in the decision to confirm the revised Model of Care as the enduring Model of Care.
As the review is part of a deliberative process it has not been made public to date.
Care of the Elderly
Questions (805, 806)
Matt Shanahan
Question:805. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health when the 56-hour dementia intensive home care package for a 91-year-old dementia sufferer, who is on a waiting list since August 2023, will be provided in full (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54885/23]
View answerMatt Shanahan
Question:806. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health if it is correct that an organisation (details supplied) has been given an instruction by the HSE not to feed or give any fluids, only to provide personal hygiene and activities, to a 91-year-old dementia patient it takes care of for seven hours per week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54891/23]
View answerWritten answers
I propose to take Questions Nos. 805 and 806 together.
As these are operational matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday, 6 October. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
Question No. 806 answered with Question No. 805.
State Claims Agency
Questions (807)
Noel Grealish
Question:807. Deputy Noel Grealish asked the Minister for Health to provide a breakdown of claims made to the State Claims Agency related to the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018, by categorisation of severity, from 1 January 2019 to date in 2023, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54914/23]
View answerWritten answers
The State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive. Accordingly, the SCA has provided me with the information set out below in response to the Deputy's question. I have been informed by the SCA that this information has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) according to the criteria and definitions set out below.
SCA Response:
The SCA has two ongoing claims from persons alleging that their unborn baby was wrongfully diagnosed with a condition sufficient to bring them within the scope of the Health Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018. It is inappropriate to provide the years of claims, as to do so could have the effect of identifying individual cases.
Notes: The information contained within this report has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) as per the below criteria.
There is no specific field for these claims on NIMS. Therefore, a key word search was completed on relevant text fields on NIMS of potentially relevant claims reported in the relevant period. Following this, a manual review was completed to identify relevant claims.
Criteria used:• All Healthcare locations on NIMS• Who was involved = Patient/ Service User.• Claims have been identified by searching in the free text fields “Summary of the Incident”, “Type of Injury (Other)” or “Sub hazard type (text)” for the words “TOP” (termination of pregnancy), “STOP” (surgical termination of pregnancy), “MTOP” (medical termination of pregnancy), “Termination”, “Medical termination”, “Abortion”.• A manual review was carried out on the resulting list of claims by the relevant SCA unit to determine relevance to the query.• This report is correct as of 06/12/2023.
Definitions: National Incident Management System (NIMS)National Incident Management System (NIMS): Incidents (which include claims) are reported using the “National Incident Management System”, hosted by the State Claims Agency (SCA). An incident can be a harmful Incident (Adverse Event), no harm incident, near miss, dangerous occurrence (reportable circumstance) or complaint. NIMS is the system used by the delegated authorities to fulfil their statutory requirement to report incidents to the State Claims Agency and for their own incident and risk management purposes.
Who Was Involved: Field detailing the type of person involved, e.g. Staff Member, Member of the Public, etc. This is the Highest level of person category on NIMS, as displayed in the three levels below.
Sub Hazard Type: Based on the’ Incident/Hazard Category’, this grouping provides a further breakdown of hazard types. This allows for a more detailed categorisation of the incidents recorded. For example, under the ‘Clinical Care’ hazard category, the sub-hazards include ‘Labour/Delivery’, ‘Diagnosis’,‘Surgical/Medical Procedures’, etc. Similarly, under ‘Exposure to Physical Hazards’, the sub-hazards include ‘Slips/Trips/Falls’, ‘Fire’, ‘Ergonomics (include manual/people handling)’, ‘Temperature (excluding Fire)’, ‘Radiation’, ‘Non-Mechanical (including Person/Animal)’, ‘Noise’, ‘Vibration’, and ‘Electrical & Mechanical components’.
Sub Hazard Type (text): A subcategory of "Sub Hazard Type" this allows the user the opportunity to specify the hazard.
Type of Injury Other: A field which records sub categorisation of "Type of Injury". Cites if there are any additional injury suffered by the injured party, e.g. fracture could be cited as the 'Type of Injury', and 'Cut/Laceration', could be added to the 'Other'.
Summary of the Incident: A free text field whereby a description of the incident can be entered by the DSA. It is important that the information provided is factual based on the actual incident that occurred.
Covid-19 Pandemic
Questions (808)
Ivana Bacik
Question:808. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Health his views on the need for an inquiry into the national Covid response; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54935/23]
View answerWritten answers
I wish to advise the Deputy that this is a matter for the Department of the Taoiseach.