Written Answers Nos. 713-737
713. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health if any trial run of a future Covid-19 vaccine inoculation programme will be road tested or implemented in advance of the receipt of actual vaccines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40050/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to the timely implementation of a COVID-19 immunisation programme, as soon as one or more vaccines in the EU portfolio are approved for use. In this regard, a cross-Government High-Level Taskforce has been established to support and oversee the development and implementation of the programme.
Logistics arrangements are amongst the range of matters which are being addressed in the context of the work of the Taskforce and the operational matters related to the implementation programme are being managed by the HSE.
714. Deputy Matt Shanahan asked the Minister for Health if his Department has considered public health readiness to deliver a Covid-19 vaccine inoculation programme; the quantity of syringes the HSE has secured in advance of such a programme given that individual vaccine shots may have to be drawn from a liquid vial; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40051/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to the timely implementation of a COVID-19 immunisation programme, as soon as one or more vaccines in the EU portfolio are approved for use. In this regard, a cross-Government High-Level Taskforce has been established to support and oversee the development and implementation of the programme.
Logistics arrangements are amongst the range of matters which are being addressed in the context of the work of the Taskforce and the State agencies and other stakeholders with which it works.
715. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the length of the waiting list for audiology appointments at present in the community healthcare organisation 2, CHO 2, region, Galway; and the measures being taken to reduce the waiting times. [40052/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
716. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health if additional funding will be provided to persons on waiting lists for residential care placements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40103/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe current average wait time on the placement list is at 4 weeks. This is in line with the commitment made in the HSE's National Service Plan and has been maintained throughout the year. The funding allocated to the Nursing Home Support Scheme of €1.07 billion for 2020 is considered to be sufficient to maintain the waiting list at target levels until the end of the year.
717. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the amount paid in legal costs to each of the top ten named legal firms representing plaintiffs in medical negligence cases in 2019; the number of cases the payments relate to in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40104/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive.
I have been informed by the SCA that:
- The information contained in this report has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS).
- Medical negligence claims are identified on NIMS through the Incident / Hazard Category of Clinical Care. This report relates to Clinical Care claims being managed by the SCA on behalf of the HSE.
- Plaintiff legal costs relate to the payment made to the Plaintiff’s legal team i.e. Solicitors and Counsel and are also inclusive of expert fees which are discharged by the Plaintiff’s solicitor. These expert fees may relate to actuarial, engineering, medical, witness fees etc.
Criteria used
- The table below shows the top 10 named Legal firms representing plaintiff legal costs made in relation to Clinical Care claims in 2019 with highest paid totals.
- This report is correct as of 31/10/2020
|
Payee |
Amount Paid |
No. of Claims |
|
Augustus Cullen Law Solicitors |
€4,214,873 |
24 |
|
Callan Tansey Solicitors |
€3,636,512 |
27 |
|
Michael Boylan Litigation Law Firm |
€3,348,019 |
9 |
|
Cian O' Carroll Solicitors |
€3,163,787 |
20 |
|
Cantillons Solicitors |
€2,615,030 |
13 |
|
Orpen Franks Solicitors |
€1,200,621 |
7 |
|
Damien Tansey Solicitors |
€1,116,676 |
12 |
|
Kent Carty Solicitors |
€983,583 |
6 |
|
James O'Brien & Co. Solicitors |
€949,642 |
5 |
|
Lavelle Solicitors |
€865,018 |
7 |
718. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of claims ongoing by the State Claims Agency relating to late diagnosis and missed diagnosis in respect of failings in the CervicalCheck screening programme; the number of cases settled; the amount paid out in claims to date; and the legal costs of the cases to date. [40105/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive.
I have been informed by the SCA that the information below has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and is accurate as of 25/11/2020.
1. Number of Claims: To date the SCA has received 231 claims relating to allegations of misinterpretation of slides by the National Screening Service. Of these, 188 relate to Clinical Care claims brought directly by the service users, the remaining 43 relate to psychological injury claims brought by family members/dependents.In relation to the 231 claims received, 9 have been concluded, and 13 have been fully resolved.
2. Amount paid out in claims to date: Due to the low number of claims, this figure is not published as it could lead to the identification of an individual. It should be noted that almost all of the claims have been settled by the laboratories involved in the individual claims and, accordingly, the Agency does not, in all instances, have details of settlement payments made by those laboratories. This applies equally to the associated legal costs – see 3 below.
3. Legal costs of the cases: In respect of all associated National Screening Services (CervicalCheck) cases, legal costs amounting to €2,581,656 have been paid. These legal costs include fees paid to mediation services, which is consistent with the SCA’s policy of using mediation wherever possible to resolve these claims in a non-adversarial manner. These legal fees also include matters not relating to the areas in which the State has already accepted liability. It is anticipated that much of the legal work carried out in respect of these initial cases, and by extension the fees incurred, will be applied in resolving future cases that have been notified to the SCA and that this legal work will not need to be repeated in managing these future cases.
719. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the amount paid out by the State Claims Agency in respect of medical negligence claims for the first nine months of 2020; and the amount the agency has paid out in legal costs in respect of the pay-outs. [40106/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of Delegated State Authorities including the Health Service Executive.
I have been informed by the SCA that the information below has been extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS). Medical negligence claims are identified on NIMS through the Incident / Hazard Category of Clinical Care, therefore, the below relates to Clinical Care claims being managed by the SCA.
Criteria used
- Incident/Hazard Category – Clinical Care.
- Transactions from 01/01/2020 to 30/09/2020
- This relates to all healthcare locations and private healthcare schemes
- The figures are correct as of 30/09/2020
The table below shows the total amount paid on all Clinical Care cases from 01/01/2020 to 30/09/2020. The Amount Paid consists of all Damages, Expert Costs, Plaintiff Legal Costs, and Agency Legal Costs.
|
Transaction Type |
Amount Paid |
|
Agency Legal Costs |
€17,110,937 |
|
Plaintiff Legal Costs |
€36,180,913 |
|
Damages Payments |
€145,376,896 |
|
Expert Costs |
€5,334,975 |
|
Total |
€204,003,721 |
720. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Health the number of nurses and midwives who qualified outside of Ireland that applied for registration in each of the respective divisions G1, G2 and G3 of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland for each month of 2020 to date; the number of these applications that have been registered; the average time taken from initial application to final decision for each division; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40107/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs it is an operational matter, your question has been forwarded to the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, for direct reply.
726. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Health the current projected cost of the national children’s hospital; the expected completion date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40133/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the NPHDB has statutory responsibility for planning, designing, building and equipping the new children's hospital, I have referred your question to the NPHDB for direct reply.
727. Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Health if he has considered introducing rapid Covid-19 testing at elder care facilities in order that families and loved ones of residents in nursing homes can be accommodated for visits over Christmas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40175/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Health Service Executive has adopted RNA PCR as the gold standard test for diagnosing Covid-19 cases, as part of the HSE test and trace strategy, consistent with international best practice, and approved by the National Public Health Emergency Team. This platform is deployed in acute hospitals, the NVRL and HSE’s commercial partners. Given the volumes required, these operate as batch tests and hence take a number of hours depending on the platform and the volume being processed.
The HSE has worked intensively over the last number of months to put in place a comprehensive testing and tracing operation. We now have on-island capacity to test up to 126,000 people per week, which can be increased to 140,000 per week if the demand requires.
It should be noted that testing for Sars-Cov2 does not confirm that an individual with a 'not detected' result is not incubating the infection or the level of virus is below detectable levels at the time of the test. It is for this reason, for example, that testing of close contacts of a confirmed case is carried out on two separate occasions, when they are first identified and again 7 days after their last contact with the person.
Many of the rapid Covid tests reported in the public domain and in the media which purport to offer a test result in minutes (for example antigen tests) lack the sensitivity and specificity required for healthcare. The HSE is constantly monitoring the sensitivity of all types of tests that are available (e.g. antigen and saliva tests) to ensure that, if deployed, they would be of appropriate quality and sensitivity. This issue continues to be monitored by the WHO, ECDC, HIQA, and the HSE Laboratory taskforce.
Ireland is pursuing a robust testing strategy under the guidance of NPHET. On an ongoing basis, NPHET considers and reviews, based on public health risk assessments, how best to target testing to hunt the virus in populations where it’s most likely and where it will do most harm. The testing strategy in use in Ireland remains under consideration by NPHET on an ongoing basis.
728. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if advice will be provided regarding section 39 funding for SouthDoc (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40177/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
729. Deputy Holly Cairns asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to plans to record a new series of the Rotunda in 2021; if this is considered sensitive to the ongoing restrictions in maternity hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40184/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraWith regard to any plans to record a new series of The Rotunda TV show in 2021, this is a matter for the HSE and the hospital in question and I am referring your query to them for direct reply to you, as soon as possible.
730. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding payment of student nurses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40188/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraEarlier this year, the Health Care Assistant initiative (whereby student nurses and midwives were offered temporary contracts to work as Health Care Assistants) began in April 2020 and ceased in August 2020.
This was in response to the Covid19 outbreak and was only ever intended as a temporary measure to provide additional support of to the national effort, it also offered some protection to the ongoing education of student nurses and midwives as their clinical placements had ceased. Student nurses and midwives who took part in this initiative received payment of the first point of the Health Care Assistant salary scale, €28,493. The rate was also temporarily applied to those 4th year nurses and midwives on paid work placements.
The regular pay for 4th year student nurses on paid internship increased by 2% on 1st October this year. The annualised salary for this group is now €21,749 (or €10.72 per hour) for general nursing and midwifery and €22,229 (€10.96 per hour) for psychiatric nursing.
My Department continues to engage with nursing unions on the concerns of Student Nurses at the present time.
My Department recently completed an interim review on the 19th November that confirmed the educational and welfare protections that are in place for those currently on placement. Finally, my Department is also currently reviewing allowances for student nurses on clinical placements and expects to conclude this review shortly.
731. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of miscarriages recorded in Ireland in each of the years 2015 to 2019; and if the number or rate of miscarriages is an outlier in terms of other EU or European countries. [40191/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
732. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if an investigation into the number of miscarriages in Ireland has taken place; if these investigations have taken place on a purely case by case basis; and if a review of underlying factors across a number of cases has taken place. [40192/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
733. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if responses, policies or initiatives have been implemented by his Department to reduce the number of miscarriages by Irish women; if so, the details of same; and the success of same. [40193/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Maternity Strategy is clear that services for couples experiencing early pregnancy loss should be enhanced. The Strategy specifically recommends that all women have easy and appropriate access, in early pregnancy, to both emergency obstetric care and well-resourced Early Pregnancy Assessment Units.
In recent years, a number of service developments have helped our maternity services to improve the management of miscarriage. These include the establishment and enhancement of Early Pregnancy Units, the introduction of new ultrasound equipment and software, the development of ultrasound training programmes, as well as the development and dissemination of national clinical guidelines for the diagnosis and management of miscarriage and ectopic pregnancy.
Also of note is the development of the National Standards for Bereavement Care following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death in 2016. The purpose of the Standards is to enhance bereavement care services for parents who experience a pregnancy loss or perinatal death. The Standards promote multidisciplinary staff involvement to prepare and deliver a comprehensive range of bereavement care services that address the immediate and long-term needs of parents bereaved while under the care of the maternity services
As part of the implementation of the Maternity Strategy, Bereavement Specialist Teams have been established in all 19 maternity hospitals/units across the country, to assist and support parents, families and professionals dealing with pregnancy loss.
734. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health if he will provide a schedule of all consultancy firms, accountancy firms, legal firms, project management firms and IT firms his Department has engaged to carry out work on its behalf in 2018, 2019 and to date in 2020; if he will summarise the work they were engaged to do and the full costs of the engagements; if disputes over costs ensued; if they were resolved with or without sanctions and-or financial penalties and-or withholding of funds; and if contracts are subject to legal challenge or mediation. [40213/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraOfficials in my department have sought clarification from the Deputy in relation to this parliamentary question. Once received, a response will issue to the Deputy directly.
735. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the reason the HPV vaccine is not available to all young women free of charge, considering that it is freely available to first year students and there would be no additional cost to make it available at any other point in secondary school as it is administered annually and the costs would be offset by the savings accrued in the year it was not availed of; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40222/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). The committee's recommendations are based on the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practice in relation to immunisation. It makes recommendations on vaccination policy to my Department. The NIAC continues to revise recommendations to allow for the introduction of new vaccines in Ireland and to keep abreast of changes in the patterns of disease. Therefore, the immunisation schedule will continue to be amended over time.
In 2009, the NIAC recommended HPV (human papillomavirus) vaccination for all 12 to 13 year old girls to reduce their risk of developing cervical cancer when they are adults. In September 2010, the HPV vaccination programme was introduced for all girls in first year of secondary school.
The NIAC recommended that the HPV vaccine should also be given to boys. On foot of the NIAC’s recommendation, my Department asked the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to undertake a health technology assessment (HTA) to establish the clinical and cost-effectiveness of extending the current immunisation programme to include boys in the first year of secondary school.
The HIQA completed the HTA in December 2018, recommending that the HPV immunisation programme be extended to include boys. A policy decision was made to extend the HPV immunisation programme to include boys, starting in September 2019, with the introduction of a 9-valent HPV vaccine.
However, the HIQA report published in December 2018 did not recommend an HPV catch-up programme for older boys for the following reasons:
- vaccinating boys in the first year of secondary school provides the best possible protection against HPV infection;
- boys are already benefitting from the indirect herd protection provided by the girls' HPV vaccination programme which started in 2010.
The ages at which vaccines are recommended in the immunisation schedule are chosen by the NIAC in order to give each child the best possible protection against vaccine preventable diseases. As the HPV vaccine is preventative it is intended to be administered, if possible, before a person becomes sexually active, that is, before a person is first exposed to HPV infection.
Therefore, the gender-neutral HPV vaccination programme targets all girls and boys in first year of secondary school to provide maximum coverage. All vaccines administered through the School Immunisation Programme are provided free of charge.
My Department will continue to be guided by NIAC's recommendations on any emerging evidence on this issue in the future.
Anyone not in 1st year of secondary school or age equivalent in special schools or home schooled during the 2020/2021 school year who wishes to get the HPV vaccine, must go to their GP or sexual health clinic and pay privately for the vaccine and its administration.
736. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Health the arrangements that have been made to ensure a seamless transition for those patients from the State availing of the health treatments under the cross-border directive in Northern Ireland from 1 January 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40223/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraBoth the Irish and British Governments are committed to maintaining, in so far as possible, the current healthcare arrangements under the Common Travel Area (CTA). Under the CTA, Irish citizens and British citizens who live in, work in, or visit the other state have the right to access publicly funded health services there. The Government is working to ensure that new arrangements through a Memorandum of Understanding with the UK will provide for continued access to reciprocal health services, between Ireland and the UK, including on the island of Ireland, which residents in both jurisdictions currently access.
It is acknowledged however that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU has implications for healthcare arrangements that currently operate under the EU legislative framework, including those arrangements covered by the Cross Border Directive (CBD). With effect from 1 January 2021, the provisions of the CBD will no longer apply to the UK. My officials are giving detailed consideration to the implementation of a unilateral CBD type arrangement which will provide that Irish residents can continue to access services provided by private health service providers in the UK post the end of the Transition Period.
737. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health his plans to pay student nurses for their work in hospitals during the Covid-19 pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40225/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE continues to fund the employment of fourth year student nurses and midwives who are on rostered work placements in hospital settings.
These fourth year student nurses and midwives on rostered work placement are paid at the approved rate as detailed on the HSE salary scale of €22,229 (annualised - psychiatric nursing specialism) and €21,749 (annualised - all other nursing specialisms.)
This rate of pay has been determined by HSE circular 005/2016 and was updated in accordance with consolidated pay scales issued on 1 October 2020.
