Written Answers Nos 676-695
676. Deputy Gerry Adams asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the case of a person (details supplied) in County Louth who is currently waiting for an MRI scan and a nerve test; the position the person occupies on the waiting lists; and when they might expect these appointments to occur. [12792/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder 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.
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.
677. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health what actions can be taken by his Department and the HSE to resolve as a matter of urgency the work to rule of nursing staff at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda, County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12794/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI believe that the interests of patients are always best served through negotiation and by avoiding industrial action. I am pleased therefore that the INMO and the HSE engaged on the staffing issues of concern to the INMO at the Workplace Relations Commission last Wednesday, though agreement between the parties will require the development of proposals by management and further engagement. I am satisfied that the issues raised by the INMO can be best addressed through engagement at the WRC.
I do wish to confirm that there is no recruitment embargo at present. While there has to be compliance with national pay structures and management of employment numbers within budget in the HSE; there is scope for hospitals to continue to recruit, particularly across key departments, such as ICU, theatre and Emergency Departments. During the 15 month period from January 2015, the numbers employed in acute hospitals increased by 3,500 (WTEs) with nursing numbers up by over 1,700 (WTEs) during the same timeframe.
I recognise the difficulties and challenges that are currently faced by hospital staff, including nurses and midwives, in delivering care. It is my intention to continue to grow the health budget as the economy improves and to obtain the resources necessary to improve working conditions for front line staff and to enable us deliver the level of service that we all want to provide to our patients.
678. Deputy Declan Breathnach asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalent staff required to fulfil the required complement across the health service and, in particular, at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda; if he will supply this figure for Our Lady's and other hospitals and health-related centres that come under the responsibility of the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12797/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter. 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.
679. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the net increase in whole-time equivalent terms in the number of nurses employed in all acute hospitals to date in 2016 in tabular form; the number of nursing vacancies in each hospital at present; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12798/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly on this matter. 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.
681. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health his plans to alter specialist care services available to sarcoma patients currently provided at St. Vincent's University Hospital; if such plans include changes to medical personnel who work as part of the sarcoma multi-disciplinary team at the hospital; if changes are planned, the measures which will be put in place to ensure patients do not experience any reduction to current services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12802/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Deputy's question relates to service delivery matters and accordingly I have asked the HSE to respond directly to him.
If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow up the matter with them.
682. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health the status of a building in Oldtown, County Dublin which is called a health centre; the services which will be provided in this centre and if these will be health services; if there will be a timescale for the provision of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12809/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service issue, this question 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.
683. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the position regarding an application for a primary medical certificate by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12814/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Drivers and Passengers with Disabilities Tax Relief Scheme is operated by the Revenue Commissioners and provides tax relief for vehicles purchased for use by people with specific severe and permanent physical disabilities. In order to qualify for tax relief under the scheme, the person with a disability must have a valid Primary Medical Certificate, applications for which are processed by the Health Service Executive (HSE) Local Health Offices.
As the Deputy's question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the HSE for a 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.
684. Deputy Pat Buckley asked the Minister for Health if he is aware that Cobh has been found to have the highest rate of cancer per capita in the State with the rate of prostate cancer 71% higher than the State average; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12826/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere is no newly published report setting out higher rates of cancer in the Cobh area. The National Cancer Registry is the statutory agency with responsibility for the collection and analysis of data relating to number of cancer cases. Analysis conducted by the Registry for the periods 1994-2007 and 2004-2013 indicated that Cobh Urban Electoral District had a higher cancer incidence rate than the national rate.
In relation to prostate cancer, the 1994-2007 figures showed that Cobh Urban had rates significantly higher than the national rate. While the 2004-2013 figures also showed a higher rate for Cobh Urban, the disparity from the national rate was less.
Cancer incidence is reported as average figures and there will always be local variations above and below the average. This is particularly true when looking at a small population area, such as Cobh, relative to the national population.
My Department is currently developing a new National Cancer Strategy 2016 - 2025 which is likely to focus on prevention, early diagnosis, further improvements in treatment, rare cancers, survivorship and high quality, patient-centred care. This Strategy will be published in the coming months.
685. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if the community allowance will be reintroduced for community mental health nurses (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12845/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 2012 the Department of Expenditure and Reform conducted a review of allowances across the public service. Payment of a number of allowances, including the 'Community Allowance' was ceased with effect from 1 February 2012, pending consideration of whether or not the allowances in question would continue to be paid, would be abolished, or be abolished for new entrants. The process involved consideration of business cases submitted by the relevant agencies/Departments on the allowances. Following completion of the review process including consideration of the business cases made, the 'Community Allowance' was confirmed as one of a number of allowances abolished for 'new entrants' in September 2012.
686. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health the amount spent by his Department on media advertising from March 2011 to February 2016, showing the media organisation, newspaper, radio, television, or any other forms of media to which advertisement fees were paid by his Department; and the amount paid per year to each individual media organisation in tabular form. [12888/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra731. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health the amount spent by the Health Service Executive on media advertising from March 2011 to February 2016, by media organisation, that is, newspaper, radio, television, or any other forms of media to which advertisement fees were paid by his Department; and the amount paid per year to each individual media organisation in tabular form. [13470/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 686 and 731 together.
The information requested by the Deputy is not immediately available and will be compiled and forwarded on to the Deputy as soon as possible. I have also, as requested asked the HSE to respond to you directly in this 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 up the matter.
687. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the sums paid by the Health Service Executive by hospital under its control regarding the acquisition costs of transporting patients in taxi services, bus services, private ambulance services and HSE-owned ambulance services for the past five years by category in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12899/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs 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.
688. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health if he will approve an increase in funding for Epilepsy Ireland so that they can open an office in Drogheda; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12901/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy's question relates to service matters, 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.
689. Deputy Bobby Aylward asked the Minister for Health if the 12 palliative care beds at St. Luke's Hospital, Kilkenny, as previously referred to in response to Parliamentary Question No. 149 of 10 December 2015, is the same 12-bed satellite unit, hospice, which the HSE refers to in its official policy documents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12903/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs 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.
690. Deputy Jonathan O'Brien asked the Minister for Health the cost of opening supervised injection facilities in Dublin, Cork and Limerick. [12933/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 15 December 2015, the Government decided to include additional Heads in the Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) Bill to provide enabling provisions for supervised injecting facilities. These provisions would enable the Minister for Health to issue licences permitting the establishment of supervised injecting facilities to provide enhanced clinical support to, and mitigate the problem of public injecting by, chronic drug users.
Drafting of the Bill by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel is at an advanced stage and, subject to approval by Government, it is anticipated that it will be published in coming months.
In the event of the planned legislation becoming law, it is envisaged that initially one supervised injecting facility would be established on a pilot basis in Dublin city centre. An independent evaluation would be an intrinsic element to this initiative; determining the utility, safety and cost-effectiveness of the supervised injecting facility in an Irish context. The outcome of such an evaluation will inform any decision to licence further facilities. In line with the experience of other countries which have established such facilities, it would be expected that the numbers would be few and the locations carefully selected to address most effectively the requirements and concerns of the service users and the wider community.
There is no finalised costing for the opening of supervised injecting centres. These can only be established when site, an operator and the scope of such a service has been determined.
691. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if the State is compliant with the EU working time directive in respect of front-line staff in the health service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12971/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State is compliant with the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) in respect of the majority of front line staff. At present my Department is engaging with the EU Commission in relation to compliance with the EWTD in respect of non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHDs) and staff in the social care sector. The HSE is committed to progressing compliance with the requirements of the Directive for these staff. Actions to achieve compliance in relation to NCHDs are being progressed through a National Group including acute hospital and mental health services, the IMO and my Department.
Likewise, actions to progress EWTD compliance in relation to social care staff are being progressed through a National Group with representation from the relevant trade unions, HSE National Social Care Division, statutory and voluntary providers as well as my Department. Significant progress has been made in increasing compliance rates in respect of NCHDs and a National EWTD Compliance Plan for the social care sector will be submitted to the EU Commission in the coming months.
692. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Health following the UN universal periodic review in early May 2016, if the Department of Justice and Equality has made any contact with him regarding Ireland's obligations to uphold women's rights to health, physical and mental, by organising a constitutional referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. [12974/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy officials are in regular contact with officials in the Department of Justice and Equality in relation to the Universal Periodic Review and an official in my Department was a member of the National Delegation at the United Nations Periodic Review in Geneva on 11 May this year.
The Government have made a commitment in the most recent Programme for Government to establish a Citizen’s Assembly to make recommendations to the Dáil on further constitutional changes and they will consider the Eighth Amendment as part of this work.
693. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the situation regarding a person (details supplied) and their referral to a consultant in University Hospital Waterford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13128/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder 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 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.
694. Deputy James Browne asked the Minister for Health why the HSE has stopped access to Camcolit for medical card holders, or through community drug schemes; his views on whether it is too expensive; the number of persons in 2015, who received the drug through the medical card or community drug scheme and the overall cost of this provision; the extent of the proposed price increase sought by the manufacturer; the impact of this on overall expenditure on the drug in 2016; and his views regarding claims that this could put patients at risk and that the HSE’s recommended alternative is not interchangeable. [13149/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drug schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
The HSE has found it necessary to discontinue reimbursing Camcolit under the General Medical Services (medical card) and community schemes, following a request for a very substantial price increase by the marketing authorisation holder for the product.
The HSE's Medicines Management Programme, in collaboration with its Mental Health Directorate, has prepared a recommended procedure for the information of prescribers and pharmacists for the transfer of patients to an alternative lithium carbonate product.
I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy concerning the number of patients who received the drug under the community schemes in 2015, and the cost of this provision.
695. Deputy Stephen S. Donnelly asked the Minister for Health with regard to the proposed site of the national children’s hospital, the net additional cost of transitioning the entirety of St. James’s Hospital, including the proposed maternity hospital, net of higher costs of building on the St. James’s site, net of the estimated costs associated with the building of the new maternity hospital on the site, net the cost of upgrading the Connolly site, to the Connolly site; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13157/16]
Amharc ar fhreagra€650m has been made available in Exchequer funding for the new children's hospital project, demonstrating the commitment of both the previous Government and this Government to the project. The 2014 estimate for the project, as set out in the approved Project Brief, affirmed delivery of the core hospital, including both satellite centres, within this envelope. The estimate includes provision for inflation, VAT and contingencies. It does not include equipment or ICT which can be purchased, licensed or leased separately. Philanthropic and commercial funding streams are to be targeted as appropriate for supporting elements of the project to include car parking and research facilities. As with any capital project, it is essential that cost estimates be reviewed and refined as appropriate, including making prudent provision for construction inflation. Ultimately, costs for the new children's hospital project at the St James's campus, and the satellite centres at the Connolly and Tallaght campuses, will be determined during the tendering process, which is expected to be very competitive, with significant interest from contractors.
The cost of transitioning the new children's hospital to a site at or adjacent to Connolly Hospital has not been assessed in any detail, as no such project exists. It is of course well understood that construction costs on a greenfield site are likely to be less than on an urban site and this was addressed in the 2012 Dolphin report, and in the further analysis sought by the Minister for Health to inform the Government decision on the location of the hospital. However, transition of the new children's hospital from the current site at St James's to any other site would require the abandonment of the current project, for which planning permission has now been secured and in relation to which tenders for enabling works contract have been received by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB). As well as re-opening planning risk for this much-needed hospital, a new site would mean that costs incurred to date would be likely to be, in the main, written off. More importantly, the new hospital would be significantly delayed; based on the experience at both the Mater campus and the St James's campus, it is likely that if the hospital were to move to a third site, a period of three to four years would elapse before a planning decision was received. Only then would construction begin, subject to a favourable planning decision. This much longer timeline would mean that construction inflation would be likely to have a significant impact on project costs. Together with lost expenditure on the project to date, that could offset much if not all of any savings to be obtained from building on a greenfield site.
The previous Government's decision on the location of the new children's hospital was not determined by construction cost, but by clinical considerations. The fundamental aim of this vital project is to ensure the best possible health outcomes for children and young people in Ireland. As announced in July 2015, it is intended that the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital will relocate to the St James's campus in time, achieving tri-location of paediatric, maternity and adult services on one campus. Tri-location has benefits for children, adolescents, newborns and mothers. In all cases, the benefits of tri-location are maximised where the adult hospital provides the broadest possible range of clinical sub-specialties and expertise, and delivers significant breadth and depth of clinical and academic research on site. St James's Hospital has the widest range of sub-specialties and highest level of clinical complexity of all hospitals in the country, as well as a strong and well-developed research infrastructure, making it the hospital that best meets the criteria to be the adult co-location partner.
A significant upgrade of Connolly Hospital would be required to achieve the same quality of clinical outcomes as co-location/tri-location with St James’s. As set out in the Dolphin report, Connolly Hospital would need very substantial investment of human and capital resources to develop over time into an adult tertiary hospital with critical mass supported by leading edge research facilities, additional to the capital cost of developing the children's hospital itself on the campus.
