Written Answers Nos. 510-525
510. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health if he, or a body under the aegis of his Department, has received correspondence from an organisation (details supplied) in respect of funding; if he will liaise with this organisation and the Department of Children and Youth Affairs to ensure that parenting programmes and summer groups receive additional funding needed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9973/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose, and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This commitment is outlined in the Programme for Partnership Government, which is guided by two principles: equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
The particular issue raised by the Deputy is a service matter for the HSE. Accordingly I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy.
511. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a hospital appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9557/17]
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.
512. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health the status of home help for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9558/17]
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.
513. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of an operation for a person (details supplied). [9560/17]
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 particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
514. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding Respreeza; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9561/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra565. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that the drug Respreeza continues to be made available for persons suffering from genetic emphysema; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9822/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra598. Deputy Noel Rock asked the Minister for Health if he will request a meeting with a company (details supplied) and seek a price reduction in the drug Respreeza, which is used to treat patients with severe lung disease; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10149/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra648. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 189 of 22 February 2017 his plans to assist those persons that had been on a compassionate based programme of the drug (details supplied); if he will intervene to ensure a mechanism is put in place to ensure access is continued for those persons in receipt of the drug; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10391/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 514, 565, 598 and 648 together.
The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drugs schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
In reaching its decision, the HSE examines all the evidence which may be relevant in its view for the decision (including the information /dossier submitted by the Company) and will take into account such expert opinions and recommendations which may have been sought by the HSE at its sole discretion (for example, from the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics).
In considering an application, the HSE will also have regard to Part 1 and Part 3 of Schedule 3 of the 2013 Act. Part 3 requires the HSE to have regard to the following criteria:
- the health needs of the public;
- the cost-effectiveness of meeting health needs by supplying the item concerned rather than providing other health services;
- the availability and suitability of items for supply or reimbursement;
- the proposed costs, benefits and risks of the item or listed item relative to therapeutically similar items or listed items provided in other health service settings and the level of certainty in relation to the evidence of those costs, benefits and risks;
- the potential or actual budget impact of the item or listed item;
- the clinical need for the item or listed item;
- the appropriate level of clinical supervision required in relation to the item to ensure patient safety;
- the efficacy (performance in trial), effectiveness (performance in real situations) and added therapeutic benefit against existing standards of treatment (how much better it treats a condition than existing therapies); and
- the resources available to the HSE.
I am informed that the HSE received a request and economic dossier from the manufacturer of Respreeza for maintenance treatment of emphysema in adults with documented severe alpha1-proteinase inhibitor deficiency.
In June of last year the HSE asked the NCPE to carry out a health technology assessment on the cost effectiveness of this treatment. The NCPE completed its assessment and made a recommendation on 9 December 2016. The NCPE determined that the manufacturer failed to demonstrate cost-effectiveness of the drug and did not recommend it for reimbursement.
A summary of the health technology assessment has been published on the NCPE website and is available at: http://www.ncpe.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/NCPE-website-summary_Final.pdf.
The HSE considers the NCPE assessment, and other expert advice, as part of its decision-making process for reimbursement and is made on objective, scientific and economic grounds by the HSE in line with the 2013 Act.
The HSE has confirmed that the drug Respreeza was considered by HSE Drugs Group which did not make a recommendation for reimbursement on clinical grounds. The HSE Leadership team has accepted the Drugs Group recommendation of non-reimbursement.
Under the HSE statutory assessment process the HSE is required to set out a notice of any proposed decision to an applicant company. The HSE is legally required to provide at least a 28 days period (from the formal written notice of proposal) to enable the pharmaceutical company to consider any such proposal not to reimburse and to make representations to the HSE if it wishes to do so. The HSE is legally required to consider any such representations in advance of a formal decision.
Therefore as the statutory process is still on-going the Company has an opportunity to have further discussions with the HSE.
In relation to the compassionate access scheme operated by the manufacturer, CSL Behring, I note and welcome the decision of the Company to extend the scheme by a further two months. However it is important to point out that the operation of such compassionate schemes is at the discretion of manufacturers. I as Minister for Health have no role in the operation of these schemes. There is no provision in Irish legislation for the approval of compassionate use programmes for specific groups of patients with an unmet medical need.
I have previously said that any attempts by manufacturers to link continued access for patients already being treated with a new medicine with decisions under the statutory reimbursement process is both inappropriate and unethical and that manufacturers should operate such schemes in a compassionate and not a commercially-motivated manner.
515. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health if his Department will review the decision not to award funding for an armchair to an adult special needs day service (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9569/17]
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.
516. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health his plans to roll out the use of the drug abiraterone (details supplied). [9572/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drugs schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
In line with the 2013 Act, if a company would like a medicine to be reimbursed by the HSE pursuant to the community drug schemes or as a hospital medicine, the company must first submit an application to the HSE to have the new medicine added to the reimbursement list or to be priced as a hospital medicine.
Abiraterone has been reimbursed under the community drugs scheme since 2012 for the treatment of metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) which has progressed on or after a docetaxel-based chemotherapy regimen and has been reimbursed since May 2015 for the treatment of mCRPC in adult men who are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic after failure of androgen deprivation therapy in whom chemotherapy is not yet clinically indicated.
The company must submit a separate application to extend a treatment to a new cohort of patients or for a different indication of the drug. Each application is considered separately on its merits and in line with the 2013 Act.
For a medicine to be considered for reimbursement by the HSE it must first have a marketing authorisation from the European Medicines Agency or the Health Products Regulatory Authority, before being assessed under the 2013 Act.
517. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health the status of funding for a sling and adult changing tray required for a facility (details supplied); if he will expedite this funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9578/17]
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 for direct reply to the Deputy.
518. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding respite care in County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9582/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to providing services and supports for people with disabilities which will empower them to live independent lives, provide greater independence in accessing the services they choose and enhance their ability to tailor the supports required to meet their needs and plan their lives. This commitment is outlined in the Programme for Partnership Government, which is guided by two principles: equality of opportunity and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
The Programme for Partnership Government states that the Government wishes to provide more accessible respite care to facilitate full support for people with a disability.
As 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.
519. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) in County Meath will be provided a date for heart surgery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9583/17]
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.
520. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his Department's current estimate for the relocation of the Rotunda Hospital to Blanchardstown; and the estimated costs of both the maternity hospital and any required upgrading to Connolly Hospital. [9593/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra521. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the current timeframe for the relocation of the Rotunda Hospital to Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown. [9594/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra522. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his Department's current estimate for the relocation of the Coombe hospital to St. James's Hospital; and the estimated costs of both the maternity hospital and any required upgrading to St. James's Hospital. [9595/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra523. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the current timeframe for the relocation of the Coombe hospital to St. James's Hospital. [9596/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra524. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his Department's current estimate for the relocation of Limerick maternity hospital to Dooradoyle; and the estimated costs of both the maternity hospital and any required upgrading to University Hospital Limerick. [9597/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra525. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the current timeframe for the relocation of Limerick maternity hospital to Dooradoyle. [9598/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 520 to 525, inclusive, together.
The redevelopment of the Rotunda, Coombe Women and Infants and Limerick Maternity Hospital are three major infrastructure projects. The model of stand-alone maternity hospitals is not the norm internationally. Government policy is therefore to co-locate all remaining maternity hospitals with adult acute services in order to provide optimal clinical outcomes. Co-location of maternity services with adult services provides mothers with access to a full range of medical and support services should the need arise. Tri-location with paediatric services ensures immediate access on-site to paediatric services when foetal or neonatal surgery is required. The availability of these services helps ensure the delivery of an optimum, safe service, particularly for high risk mothers and babies.
The project to redevelop the National Maternity Hospital will progress to planning stage very shortly. The other three maternity hospital projects are at a very early development stage and it would be premature to provide any indicative time frames for completion, or cost estimates, at this point. Costs will of course differ from project to project and will be determined, in part, by any requirement to upgrade facilities at the host hospital.
