Written Answers Nos. 329-349
329. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health the documents the HSE claims were not submitted with an application for a medical card by a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52987/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.
330. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Health if funding will be provided for an Alzheimer's disease unit at a location (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if the matter has been discussed at local level; and his views and those of the HSE on such a proposal. [52989/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
331. Deputy Eamon Scanlon asked the Minister for Health when a speech and language therapist will be appointed in St. Patrick's Hospital, Carrick-on-Shannon; if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the position has been vacant since March 2017; his views on the fact that there are stroke patients in the community and in the hospital and young children waiting for appointments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53010/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.
332. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Health the number of community occupational therapists operating in County Kildare and west County Wicklow; the towns they cover; if there are vacancies; if so, the length of time the vacancies have existed; the actions being taken to secure a therapist for the position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53015/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra333. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Health the number of community physiotherapists operating in counties Kildare and Wicklow; the towns they cover; if there are vacancies; if so, the length of time the vacancies existed; the actions being taken to secure a therapist for the position; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53016/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 333 together.
As these questions relate to service matters, I have arranged for them to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.
334. Deputy Joan Burton asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that one tenth of the national waiting list for gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures is at Naas General Hospital; his views on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53018/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to you directly.
335. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health the position regarding respite services for persons with disabilities in County Louth. [53024/17]
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.
336. Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that funding for occupational therapy in north County Cork has been cut; and if occupational therapy services will be funded in the case of a person (details supplied). [53029/17]
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.
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.
337. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a new general practitioner for Lixnaw, County Kerry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53033/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply.
338. Deputy Peter Burke asked the Minister for Health if information will be provided to a person (details supplied) regarding an operation in 1990. [53044/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
339. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if an operation for a person (details supplied) will be expedited; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53049/17]
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.
340. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of speech therapists and psychologists with functional Irish that are working in the educational sector; the number of these professionals working in Gaeltacht areas; the mechanisms by which his Department ensures that Gaeltacht schools have access to health professionals with functional Irish; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53062/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn accordance with the Official Languages Act 2003, my Department, the Health Service Executive and the other health agencies which come under the aegis of my Department are committed to ensuring that customers who wish to conduct their business through Irish can be facilitated to the greatest extent possible. The Health Service Executive has statutory responsibility for the provision of health and social care services, including psychological and speech and language therapy services in Gaeltacht areas and therefore, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.
My Department has made enquiries of the Department of Education and Skills in relation to the provision of psychological and speech therapy services in the educational sector. The Department of Education and Skills has informed us that the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS) provides an educational psychological service to schools. It is primarily a school based service with the aim of supporting teachers and parents in meeting the needs of learners in schools. In assigning psychologists to Gaeltacht schools and Gaelscoileanna, NEPS has some 58 staff identified as competent in the delivery of service through the medium of Irish. For a number of years NEPS has provided an Irish language programme for its Psychologists with the assistance of Gaeleagras Teo. and an Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscolaíochta (COGG). The programme comprises of a general language component and a technical language component suited to the needs of an education psychology service.
The Department of Education and Skills does not directly provide broad based speech and language therapy services within the education sector, such facility being provided to school-going age children by the HSE or agencies funded by it. However, the National Council for Special Education does have three speech and language therapy staff with the National Behavioural Support Service which has input into partner post-primary schools.
342. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a media report (details supplied) which suggests that 168,438 adult bed days per year, equivalent to 460 beds per day, could be saved through the targeted use of oral nutritional supplements in the management of disease-related malnutrition in the community; the measures that have been put in place to free up these beds in the midst of the acute facility beds shortage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53070/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra348. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a 2016 HIQA report (details supplied); the actions that have been taken since the report’s publication to address these shortcomings in view of the fact that malnourished persons stay in acute beds for 30% to 70% longer than non-malnourished persons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53076/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 342 and 348 together.
Minister Harris has made hospital food and malnutrition in hospitals a priority issue. In this context and with reference to the Deputy’s question on the relevant report, the Department of Health published Food and Nutritional Care in Hospitals – Guidelines for preventing Under-Nutrition in Acute Hospitalsin 2009. These Guidelines included a recommendation on using a nutritional screening tool, the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST).
Currently the Department is working with the HSE on the development of the National Clinical Guideline for the Prevention and Treatment of under nutrition: Use of Nutrition Support in adults in the Acute Care Setting. This is to ensure use of the MUST tool in all Irish Hospitals and make it a mandatory requirement for all patients to be screened on admission to hospital.
The HSE is also addressing the issue by establishing a multidisciplinary hospital food and nutrition policy development group. This group includes representation from the chairs of the Nutrition and Hydration Steering Committee from a hospital within each Hospital Group. The HSE has employed a Project Dietitian with specific skills and experience in the area of hospital food/menus to lead on the development of a National Hospital Food and Nutrition Policy and Implementation Plan. This policy will be supported by the Acute Hospital Division and the Health and Wellbeing Division.
The Food and Nutrition Policy and Implementation Plan will include minimum nutrition standards and refer to other relevant policies, such as protected meal times policy, the use of oral nutritional supplements, nutrition screening and referral pathways. Oral Nutrition Supplements (ONS) are designed to prevent and treat under-nutrition. Evidence of their efficacy is underpinned by expert clinical guidelines including those of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE). There is increasing evidence of their cost effectiveness compared to standard care, arising largely from reductions in use of acute care resources.
I also understand that the Department is carrying out a health service Capacity Review which will have a wider scope than previous exercises which concentrated on just acute bed capacity. This Review will examine key elements of primary and community care infrastructure in addition to hospital facilities. It has involved a major data gathering exercise in relation to activity, un-met demand and capacity within the acute, primary and social care services sectors, analysis of that data, baseline forecasting of both demand and associated capacity requirements for each health sector and consideration and modelling of the potential impacts of policy change and productivity improvements. The Review will provide a basis for determining both the extent of capacity requirements over the next 15 years and the type of capacity needed. The findings will also inform the development of a new 10 year national capital plan. Work on this Review is at an advanced stage and a final report is expected early in the new year (2018).
343. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the prevalence of disease-related malnutrition across all health and social care settings in the past five years according to clinical treatment settings including inpatient, outpatient, nursing homes and general practitioner clinics by county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53071/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra344. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his plans to use nutritional screening and malnutrition rates as mandatory quality indicators across all clinical treatment settings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53072/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra345. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the initiatives his Department is engaged in with regard to mitigating against the annual cost of disease-related malnutrition in the community setting in which 93% of persons with malnutrition reside and which is estimated to be more than the annual cost of obesity at some €1.4 billion per annum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53073/17]
Amharc ar fhreagra346. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the example of best practice displayed by the Netherlands in tackling the issue of disease-related malnutrition through the establishment of the Dutch malnutrition steering group (details supplied) which successfully reduced the prevalence of malnutrition across all healthcare settings over a 12-year period; his plans to bring forward a similar initiative here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53074/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 343 to 346, inclusive, together.
Hospital food and malnutrition in hospitals have been made a priority issue and in response the HSE has established a multi-disciplinary hospital food and nutrition policy development group, This group will include representation from the chairs of the Nutrition and Hydration Steering Committee from a hospital within each Hospital Group.
The HSE has employed a Project Dietitian with specific skills and experience in the area of hospital food/menus to lead on the development of a National Hospital Food and Nutrition Policy and implementation plan. This Policy will be supported by the Acute Hospital Division and the Health and Wellbeing Division.
The development of the policy will take cognisance of pre-existing policies and work in this area (Irish and international) including individual hospital nutrition policies, the HSE calorie posting, the healthier vending policies and screening policies already underway. The overarching food and nutrition policy will include minimum nutrition standards and refer to other relevant policies such as protected meal times policy, nutrition screening and referral pathways.
As the specific issues you have raised are service matters, they have been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and 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 on the matter.
347. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health his plans regarding dietitians within CHOs and community settings; the sourcing allocation that is being made available to community dietitians to meet current and future demand levels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53075/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraA national Obesity Policy and Action Plan was launched by the Minister of Health in September 2016. The national policy covers the period up to 2025 and aims to reverse obesity trends, prevent health complications and reduce the overall burden for individuals, families, the health system, and the wider society and economy. The Policy acknowledged that every sector of our society has a role in reducing the burden of obesity, and emphasised the key role that the education sector will have in achieving the objectives, particularly in relation to child obesity.
The Obesity Policy prescribed 'Ten Steps Forward' that would be taken to prevent overweight and obesity. Under each step there are a number of actions, some of which have been identified for early implementation. Step 6 provides the mobilisation of the health services 'to better prevent and address overweight and obesity through effective community-based health promotion programmes, training and skills development and through enhanced systems for detection and referrals of overweight and obese patients at primary care level.'
The priority actions under this step are:
- Target high-risk groups through community development programmes that support healthy lifestyles, prevention and management of overweight and obesity in children and adults.
- Include obesity prevention and care as a requirement of GP contracts.
As the issue you have raised is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and 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.
349. Deputy Thomas Pringle asked the Minister for Health if he will intervene to address staff shortages at a facility (details supplied) in County Donegal; the reason for the delay in recruiting for the three vacant posts; the steps he is taking to ensure recruitment is carried out efficiently to avoid staff shortages in respite service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53079/17]
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.
