Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Thursday, 5 Mar 2020

Written Answers Nos. 703-723

Health Services Data

Ceisteanna (703)

Jennifer Whitmore

Ceist:

703. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health the number of children with Down's syndrome awaiting assessment for the diagnosis of juvenile arthritis; the average wait time for the assessment by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3368/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.

Hospital Appointments Status

Ceisteanna (704)

Jennifer Whitmore

Ceist:

704. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health the status of an assessment for juvenile diabetes for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3369/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Under 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 National Waiting List Management Policy, a standardised approach to managing scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures, since 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 HSE, 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 the Deputy directly.

Primary Care Centres Provision

Ceisteanna (705)

Jennifer Whitmore

Ceist:

705. Deputy Jennifer Whitmore asked the Minister for Health the status of primary care centres in Arklow, Rathdrum and Greystones, County Wicklow; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3370/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As the HSE has responsibility for the provision, along with the maintenance and operation of Primary Care Centres and other Primary Care facilities, the Executive has been asked to reply directly to the Deputy.

National Treatment Purchase Fund Data

Ceisteanna (706)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

706. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of procedures procured by the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2017, 2018 and 2019, by type and speciality of each procedure in tabular form; the expenditure incurred in each year; the amount of the funding spent on procuring private treatment in each year; and the amount spent procuring treatment in the public and voluntary hospitals. [3398/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The information requested by the Deputy is currently being collated by officials in my Department and will be provided to the Deputy directly as soon as it becomes available.

National Treatment Purchase Fund Payments

Ceisteanna (707)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

707. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the income received by each hospital group from the National Treatment Purchase Fund in 2017, 2018 and 2019, in tabular form. [3399/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The information requested by the Deputy is currently being collated by officials in my Department and will be provided to the Deputy directly as soon as it becomes available.

National Treatment Purchase Fund Data

Ceisteanna (708)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

708. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of public patients removed from outpatient lists in 2019 as a result of a validation exercise and not as a result of having an appointment with a consultant for each public and voluntary hospital in tabular form. [3400/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

In order to ensure the accuracy of waiting lists, good practice around the management of hospital waiting lists recommends periodic validation of waiting lists. Validation is the process whereby hospital administration contacts patients on waiting lists at pre-planned intervals during the year to ensure that patients are ready, willing, suitable and available to attend a hospital appointment or wish to be removed. For a number of years validation was conducted at individual hospital level in Ireland but in 2018, I approved the establishment of the National Centralised Validation Unit (NCVU) within the NTPF. The establishment of a centralised function has facilitated the introduction of a standardised approach to validation of waiting lists across all hospitals and across IPDC and OPD waiting lists.

The NCVU advises that in 2019, they completed 269 validation cycles, across 37 hospitals, resulting in 7,651 patients being removed from the Inpatient/Day Case waiting list and 45,270 from the Outpatient waiting lists.

In relation to the data requested by the Deputy, the NCVU provided the attached document which outlines outpatient validation figures by hospital.

OPD Validation Removals

Hospital Waiting Lists Data

Ceisteanna (709)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

709. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of outpatient appointments outstanding for more than two years at the end of February 2020; the number outstanding for more than three years; and the number outstanding for more than four years by each reporting hospital in tabular form. [3401/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

I am conscious that waiting times are often unacceptably long and of the burden that this places on patients and their families. In this regard, the Government is committed to improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures.

Budget 2020 announced further increased investment in tackling waiting lists, with funding to the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) increasing from €75 million in 2019 to €100 million in 2020. The NTPF will work with the hospital system to provide additionality to improve access to inpatient/daycase treatment and with a particular focus on hospital outpatient services. In this regard, I would encourage all hospital groups and individual hospitals to engage with the NTPF to identify waiting list proposals this year. 

I wish to advise the Deputy that the latest data published by the NTPF sets out the waiting list position for the end of January and is also available on the NTPF website at: https://www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm

At the end of January 2020, the overall Outpatient Waiting List stood at 556,770. Of the overall outpatient waiting list, 62,610 are waiting two years or more. Of these 62,610, there are 18,829 patients waiting three years or more. Of these 18,829, there are 3,949 patients waiting four years or more. This information is provided at hospital level and outlined in the attached documents.   

Outpatient Appointments

General Practitioner Data

Ceisteanna (710)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

710. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the cost in 2019 of the 10% increase across all GP-visit card weekly income thresholds; the full-year cost of same; and the number of additional GP-visit cards issued in 2019 as a result of this change. [3402/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

Budget 2019 provided for a 10% increase across all GP Visit card weekly income thresholds which came into effect from 1st April 2019.  The full year cost of this measure will be dependent on a number of factors, including the number of additional applications made to the HSE, the timescale within which these are made and the number of applicants who are found to qualify for this benefit.

I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to you directly as the issues relating to the uptake and the cost in 2019 are a service matter.

Primary Care Centres Expenditure

Ceisteanna (711)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

711. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the share of the health budget allocated to primary care in each of the years 2016 to 2019, inclusive, and to date in 2020. [3403/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The following table sets out the share of the primary care budget in each of the years 2016 to 2019.

Primary care incorporates a range of multi-disciplinary services delivered by GP's, community nursing and health and social care professionals.  The services provided include physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, paediatric homecare and community intervention teams. 

The HSE’s Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) supports the delivery of a wide range of these primary care services to the general public through over 7,000 primary care contractors across a range of community health schemes.  These schemes form the infrastructure through which the Irish Health System delivers a significant proportion of Primary Care to the public.   It is through PCRS that GPs receive a range of fees and allowances under the GMS scheme, although it should be noted that the total PCRS budget includes a range of other payments, the largest proportion of which is accounted for by drugs and medicines for both GMS and non-GMS payments.  

 The figures set out in the following table exclude expenditure on social care services. 

 

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

 

 €M

 €M

 €M

 €M

 €M

Primary Care

784

820

851

895

924

PCRS

2,545

2,566

2,619

2,888

2,951

 

3,329

3,386

3,470

3,783

3,875

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall Total Budget

13,514

14,156

15,222

16,471

17,056

Primary Care share

24.6%

23.9%

22.8%

23.0%

22.7%

Note. The figures for each year 2016 to 2019 are based on budget outturn, and the figures for the year 2020 are as per the National Service Plan 2020.

Medical Card Data

Ceisteanna (712)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

712. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of medical cards as of 29 February 2020; the number of general practitioner cards on the same date; and the number for each type of card issued on a discretionary basis on the date. [3404/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.

Nursing Homes Support Scheme Data

Ceisteanna (713)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

713. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons awaiting placement under the fair deal scheme at the end of February 2020 or latest date available; the average waiting time; the numbers of persons awaiting placement under the scheme by local health area in tabular form; and the length of time waiting. [3405/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Hospital Beds Closures

Ceisteanna (714)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

714. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of beds and wards in each public and voluntary acute hospital that were closed on 28 February 2020 or the latest date on which data for validated bed closures at hospital and ward level are available. [3406/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The Open Beds Report, published by my Department monthly, provides a summary of the average numbers of open inpatient beds and day beds/places in the acute hospital system based on data provided by the HSE. It can be found on the Department's website: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/0de977-department-of-health-open-beds-report-for-december-2019/.

According to provisional data received from the HSE Acute Business Information Unit, there were on average 10,952 inpatient beds and 2,290 day case beds/places available nationally in December 2019.

Information relating to closed beds is collated at a particular date in time. The number of beds closed can fluctuate greatly from day to day for a variety of reasons, including on-going refurbishment, maintenance work, and infection control measures.

With regard to the Deputy's specific question, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.

Hospital Discharges

Ceisteanna (715)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

715. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of delayed discharges in each public and voluntary hospital at the end of December 2019; and the total number in 2019. [3407/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

A delayed transfer of care (previously referred to as a delayed discharge) occurs when a patient has been deemed clinically fit for discharge from an acute bed but their discharge is delayed because they are waiting for some form of ongoing support or care following their discharge. There are many reasons for this, such as a patient undertaking the application process for NHSS, awaiting assessment for a home support package, homelessness, ward of court application, and the availability of resources.

When possible, the HSE will use transitional care to accommodate the patient during the period between discharge and the finalisation of new care arrangements, but there can often be a delay, especially in cases where the patient and family are coming to terms with the new circumstances.

The HSE Winter Plan remains in effect until the end of March 2020 and aims to ensure that service providers are prepared for the additional external pressures associated with the winter period. The €26m in winter funding secured for 2019 has been used to support access to the Fair Deal scheme, additional home support, transitional care, aids and appliances, and other local measures. A further €13.8 million in funding has been allocated in 2020 to support the implementation of the Winter Plan and the focus remains on supporting discharges and the use of community resources to move patients to more appropriate care settings.

With regard to the Deputy's specific question, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.

Hospital Discharges

Ceisteanna (716)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

716. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of bed days lost in each public and voluntary hospital owing to delayed discharges in 2019. [3408/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

A delayed transfer of care (previously referred to as a delayed discharge) occurs when a patient has been deemed clinically fit for discharge from an acute bed but their discharge is delayed because they are waiting for some form of ongoing support or care following their discharge. There are many reasons for this, such as a patient undertaking the application process for NHSS, awaiting assessment for a home support package, homelessness, ward of court application, and the availability of resources.

When possible, the HSE will use transitional care to accommodate the patient during the period between discharge and the finalisation of new care arrangements, but there can often be a delay, especially in cases where the patient and family are coming to terms with the new circumstances.

The HSE Winter Plan remains in effect until the end of March 2020 and aims to ensure that service providers are prepared for the additional external pressures associated with the winter period. The €26m in winter funding secured for 2019 has been used to support access to the Fair Deal scheme, additional home support, transitional care, aids and appliances, and other local measures. A further €13.8 million in funding has been allocated in 2020 to support the implementation of the Winter Plan and the focus remains on supporting discharges and the use of community resources to move patients to more appropriate care settings.

With regard to the Deputy's specific question, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.

Ambulance Service Response Times

Ceisteanna (717)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

717. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the percentage of clinical status 1 ECHO incidents responded to by first responder in seven minutes and 59 seconds or less by ambulance station to the end of February 2020; and the percentage of clinical status 1 DELTA incidents responded to by a patient carrying vehicle in seven minutes and 59 seconds or less. [3409/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter I have asked the HSE to reply to you directly.

Emergency Departments Waiting Times

Ceisteanna (718)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

718. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of patients aged 75 or over who experienced an emergency department wait time more than 24 hours during December 2019; the overall number in 2019; and the hospitals in which the wait occurred. [3410/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

The hospital system is currently operating at close to full capacity. The number of patients attending Emergency Departments continues to increase year on year. In 2019, the number of patients over the age of 75 attending hospital EDs increased by 5% compared to 2018. For the month of December 2019, the number of patients over the age of 75 attending hospital EDs was 15,409 which represents a 12.4% increase from the same month in 2018. This reflects increasing demand for unscheduled care, especially by patients in the 75 years and over age group.

The National Service Plan 2019 included an expected activity target that 99% of patients aged 75 and over attending at an Emergency Department be discharged or admitted within 24 hours and any breach of this target in respect of patients in this age cohort is unacceptable.

There are a number of factors which may affect the waiting times for older patients. In particular, people in the older age category presenting to EDs are more likely to have complex needs and be admitted then the population generally. Consequently, a higher number of these patients may have to be cared for on trolleys, pending their admission to a ward. There are also issues around delayed discharges of care which can cause congestion within hospital emergency departments.

With regard to the Deputy's specific question, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly with the requested information.

HSE Waiting Lists

Ceisteanna (719)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

719. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of home support hours being provided in each LHO area to the end of February 2020 or the latest date available; the way in which this compares to target in each LHO for the same time period; the number of persons on the waiting list for home support hours in each LHO area; and the number waiting up to three, three to six, six to 12, and more than 12 months in tabular form. [3411/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible

Ambulance Service Data

Ceisteanna (720)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

720. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of ambulance attendances at each emergency department nationwide in February 2020; the number of such ambulances that waited longer than 20 minutes to hand over patients, get their trolleys back and return to responding to calls; the number that waited longer than 40, 60, 90, 120 and more than 180 minutes for same. [3412/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter I have asked the HSE to reply to you directly.

Hospital Waiting Lists Data

Ceisteanna (721)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

721. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of spinal fusion patients currently waiting fewer than four, four to eight, and more than eight months for treatment in hospitals (details supplied); and if he will provide the same information for other spinal patients. [3413/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly.

HSE Waiting Lists

Ceisteanna (722)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

722. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in each LHO area waiting for a podiatry appointment in primary care at the end of February 2020 or the latest date available; and the number waiting up to 12, 12 to 26, 26 to 52, and more than 52 weeks. [3414/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.

HSE Waiting Lists

Ceisteanna (723)

Stephen Donnelly

Ceist:

723. Deputy Stephen Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in each LHO area waiting for an ophthalmology appointment in primary care at the end of February 2020 or the latest date available; and the number waiting up to 12, 12 to 26, 26 to 52 and more than 52 weeks. [3415/20]

Amharc ar fhreagra

Freagraí scríofa

As this is a service matter it has been referred to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.

Barr
Roinn