Colm Burke
Question:174. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health the number of nurses contracted to work through the chronic disease management programme. [9613/24]
View answerWednesday, 28 February 2024
Questions (174)
Written answers
Practice nurses are not contracted with the HSE to work under the General Practitioner (GP) Chronic Disease Management (CDM) programme.
GPs are private practitioners and as such, privately employ practice staff as they see fit and as suitable to the particular needs of their practice. Under the GMS scheme, GPs are paid a subsidy towards the cost of employing a practice nurse and/or a practice administrator. GPs participating in the CDM programme receive a practice nurse grant per CDM patient in respect of the services provided by practice nurses under the programme.
In regards to chronic disease related community services, funding provided under the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) programme facilitates, amongst other initiatives, the development of 30 Community Specialist Teams for the Management of Chronic Diseases as well as 30 Community Specialist Teams for Older Persons. To date, 54 of these teams are operational, with over 2,800 staff recruited to the ECC Programme.
I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly in relation to the number of nurses providing chronic disease services through the Community Specialist Teams.