Terence Flanagan
Ceist:463. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the provision of a day centre in Marino-Fairview in Dublin 3; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12924/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraHealth Services Provision
Ceisteanna (463)
Freagraí scríofa
As this is a service matter it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Hospital Facilities
Ceisteanna (464)
Seán Kenny
Ceist:464. Deputy Seán Kenny asked the Minister for Health the amount of revenue generated through sales at the shop and restaurant in Beaumont Hospital in Dublin 9 in 2013 and 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12933/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
Health Services Provision
Ceisteanna (465)
Michael Healy-Rae
Ceist:465. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health his views on correspondence regarding the welfare of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12939/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If you have not received a reply within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Health Services Provision
Ceisteanna (466)
Mary Lou McDonald
Ceist:466. Deputy Mary Lou McDonald asked the Minister for Health the reason there is no local facility for outpatients who need dressings tended to on a daily basis in the Clondalkin area in Dublin 22, as the current situation of obliging such patients to attend Tallaght hospital in Dublin 24 in the morning, is very inconvenient for those dependent on public transport. [12941/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for direct reply to the Deputy. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Ambulance Service Provision
Ceisteanna (467)
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin
Ceist:467. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of an ambulance call-out (details supplied) in County Laois; if there were delays in the availability of an ambulance; if this was related to a lack of ambulances or other factors; if activation of local fire and rescue service is considered in cases of ECHO calls; if this is to be replicated across the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12942/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
Firstly, I would like to extend my sympathies to the family of the person concerned.
My Department has requested a report in relation to this incident and I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly on the matter. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
Medical Card Applications
Ceisteanna (468)
Tom Fleming
Ceist:468. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will examine and expedite an application for a medical card for a person (details supplied) in County Kerry, in view of the fact that all relevant documentation has been submitted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12943/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The Health Service Executive has been asked to examine this matter and to reply to the Deputy as soon as possible.The Health Service Executive operates the General Medical Services scheme, which includes medical cards and GP visit cards, under the Health Act 1970, as amended. It has established a dedicated contact service for members of the Oireachtas specifically for queries relating to medical cards and GP visit cards, which the Deputy may wish to use for an earlier response. Contact information has issued to Oireachtas members.If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office who will follow up the matter with them.
Questions Nos. 469 to 471, inclusive, answered with Question No. 436
Medical Aids and Appliances Provision
Ceisteanna (472)
John McGuinness
Ceist:472. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the reason special footwear is not being provided in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if funding will be provided without delay; if the Health Service Executive will contact the person with a view to arranging same as the person's calls are not being returned; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12986/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As the Deputy's question relates to a service matter, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy. If the Deputy has not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days, he can contact my Private Office and they will follow the matter up with the HSE.
Hospital Appointments Status
Ceisteanna (473)
John McGuinness
Ceist:473. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health when an appointment will be arranged for a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny with a consultant vascular surgeon at Waterford Regional Hospital, in view of the fact that the person was first referred by a general practitioner in 2012 as an urgent case, and in early 2014 was scheduled to attend at Whitfield Clinic but the promised appointment never materialised; if he will explain the background to the Waterford Regional Hospital and Whitfield Clinic lists; if he will confirm the numbers on the waiting lists; the action he is taking, or has taken, to reduce these lists; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12988/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
Organ Donation
Ceisteanna (474)
Tom Fleming
Ceist:474. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting transplants in each of the following, heart, liver, lung, kidney and pancreas; and due to current shortfall in donors the number of Irish patients being facilitated abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13005/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The number of patients awaiting organ transplants are as follows:
|
Transplant Type |
Number waiting |
|
Kidney |
585 |
|
Liver |
41 |
|
Lung |
35 |
|
Heart |
21 |
|
Kidney/Pancreas |
9 |
|
Pancreas |
3 |
|
Total |
694 |
No Irish patients are transplanted abroad due to a shortfall in donors.
Arrangements are in place with the UK to facilitate a small number of paediatric heart and lung transplant patients. In addition, patients eligible for the paired kidney exchange programme are facilitated in the UK.
Hospital Appointments Status
Ceisteanna (475)
Tom Fleming
Ceist:475. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will expedite a hospital appointment in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13006/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
You will appreciate that it is contrary to the Health Service Executive (Governance) Act 2013 for me to make a direction to the HSE or a hospital to benefit or prioritise any individual person or patient.
The scheduling of appointments for patients is a matter for the hospital to which the patient has been referred. Should a patient's general practitioner consider that the patient's condition warrants an earlier appointment, he or she should take the matter up with the consultant and the hospital involved. In relation to the specific case raised, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
Community Pharmacy Services
Ceisteanna (476)
Pat Rabbitte
Ceist:476. Deputy Pat Rabbitte asked the Minister for Health if the drug Regorafenib Stivarga will be made available to a person (details supplied) in Dublin 24; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13027/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drug schemes in accordance with the provisions of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
The decisions on which medicines are reimbursed by the taxpayer are made on objective, scientific and economic grounds by the HSE on the advice of the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics. They are not political or Ministerial decisions.
The HSE received an application for the inclusion of Regorafenib in the GMS and community drugs schemes. The application is being considered in line with the procedures and timescales agreed by the Department of Health and the HSE with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association for the assessment of new medicines.
In accordance with these procedures, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics conducted a pharmacoeconomic evaluation of Regorafenib. The HSE is currently considering the results of that assessment and a subsequent commercial negotiation with the pharmaceutical company Bayer to seek to address some of the concerns raised in the assessment. No further comment is possible at this time.
Hospital Appointments Status
Ceisteanna (477)
Brian Walsh
Ceist:477. Deputy Brian Walsh asked the Minister for Health if a medical appointment will be expedited in respect of a person (details supplied) in County Galway; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13030/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
You will appreciate that it is contrary to the Health Service Executive (Governance) Act 2013 for me to make a direction to the HSE or a hospital to benefit or prioritise any individual person or patient.
The National Waiting List Management Policy, A standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, January 2014, has been developed to ensure that all administrative, managerial and clinical staff follow an agreed national minimum standard for the management and administration of waiting lists for scheduled care. This policy, which has been adopted by the Health Service Executive, sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.
General Practitioner Services Provision
Ceisteanna (478, 479, 480)
Éamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:478. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of general practitioners in receipt of the rural practice allowance; the names of each general practitioner and the location of their practice; the number of persons living in the centre as specified in his Department's circular in each case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13037/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraÉamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:479. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the definition of centre in the context of the circular on the rural practice allowance issued by his Department; the method by which the population of a centre is measured for the purposes of this allowance; if it is based on the population statistics compiled by the Central Statistics Office; if so, the statistics used, for example, whether it is based on the population of electoral districts, townlands, towns or villages; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13038/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraÉamon Ó Cuív
Ceist:480. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 362 of 3 March 2015, the basis on which the Health Service Executive states that the population of Renvyle is 1,330 for the purposes of refusing a rural practice allowance; the definition of centre used for the purpose of measuring against population; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13039/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 478 to 480, inclusive, together.
Under the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme, Circular 13/72, Appendix B (x) sets out the criteria for the awarding of a Rural Practice Allowance to a GMS doctor. The circular states that "where a doctor lives or practises in a centre with a population of less than 500 and where there is not a town with a population of 1,500 or more within a three mile radius of that centre the doctor will be entitled to special rural practice concessions", including a Rural Practice Allowance. The term "centre" is not defined in the circular.
It is envisaged that the review of the GMS contract and other publicly funded health sector contracts with GPs will include consideration of how best to support General Practice in urban/deprived and rural areas so as to best meet the needs of patients with regard to the provision of general practitioner services.
As the other matters raised by the Deputy are service issues, I have asked the Health Service Executive to reply directly to the Deputy on these matters. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Mental Health Services Provision
Ceisteanna (481)
Billy Kelleher
Ceist:481. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the reasons he has ceased providing mental health services to children and adolescents in Gorey in County Wexford and forced families from north Wexford to seek support in Enniscorthy in County Wexford; and if he will reverse the decision. [13040/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
As this is a service issue this question has been referred to the HSE for direct reply. If you have not received a reply within 15 working days, please contact my Private Office and they will follow up the matter with them.
Question No. 482 answered with Question No. 454.