Wednesday, 21 Apr 2021

Written Answers Nos. 2199-2217

Occupational Therapy

Ceisteanna (2199)

Cian O'Callaghan

Ceist:

2199. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the number of persons waiting for a primary care occupational therapy appointment by CHO, LHO, age and time waiting. [20111/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

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

Mental Health Services

Ceisteanna (2200)

Cian O'Callaghan

Ceist:

2200. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on a waiting list for community psychology services by CHO, LHO, age, category and time waiting. [20112/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Health

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

Home Care Packages

Ceisteanna (2201)

Cian O'Callaghan

Ceist:

2201. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health the waiting lists for homecare package applications by CHO and LHO. [20113/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Health

As this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Mental Health Policy

Ceisteanna (2202)

Cian O'Callaghan

Ceist:

2202. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan asked the Minister for Health if he will undertake an urgent review of the allocation of mental health services to young persons; the areas in which gaps in provision of services exist by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20114/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister of State at the Department of Health

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

Vaccination Programme

Ceisteanna (2203)

David Cullinane

Ceist:

2203. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of Covid-19 vaccine doses delivered to and administered by general practitioners to date by county, local authority area and each clinic or general practitioner; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20116/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

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

Question No. 2204 answered with Question No. 1778.

Covid-19 Pandemic

Ceisteanna (2205)

James O'Connor

Ceist:

2205. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the position regarding visitors at a hospital (details supplied) in County Cork; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20123/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

I am aware of how difficult the current visitor restrictions are for those in hospitals and their families.

The HSE has advised that visiting arrangements in hospitals have changed to help protect patients and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Information/guidance for visitors to individual public hospitals is regularly updated on the HSE website.

Decisions on visitor restrictions are made, implemented and reviewed at hospital level. Such restrictions are necessary to protect the safety of patients, the wellbeing of staff and the operability of hospital services. However, you can be assured that in the context of what is a rapidly evolving situation, such restrictions are frequently reviewed.

Furthermore, it is essential that people do not visit hospitals if they have symptoms of coronavirus (high temperature, cough, shortness of breath or loss or change to your sense of smell or taste).

Regarding the specific hospital referred to by the Deputy, the Department of Health does not have responsibility for private hospitals and so cannot provide specific information in relation to that hospital.

Question No. 2206 answered with Question No. 1504.

Covid-19 Pandemic

Ceisteanna (2207)

Brendan Griffin

Ceist:

2207. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health if quarantine measures will apply to essential workers (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20131/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

Mandatory hotel quarantine has been introduced as one element of Ireland’s public health measures to combat the transmission of COVID-19 variants of concern.

The Health Act 1947, as amended, provides that all persons arriving in Ireland from a designated state, or having travelled through a designated state in the previous 14 days, are required to undergo mandatory quarantine in a designated facility unless they are an exempted traveller under the Act. All applicable travellers must reserve and pay for a place in mandatory hotel quarantine.

Mandatory hotel quarantine is also necessary in circumstances where passengers coming from non-designated states do not provide evidence that they have a negative or ‘not detected’ result from a COVID-19 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test carried out no more than 72 hours before arrival into Ireland.

The provisions of the Act allow for travellers to request a review of decisions relating to their quarantine in a designated facility; however, this can only be undertaken once quarantine has begun.

The designation of states is subject to ongoing review in line with the provisions of Section 38B of the Health Act 1947, which was inserted by the Health (Amendment) Act 2021.

As announced on 9 April, passengers arriving in Ireland from France must enter mandatory hotel quarantine starting from 04.00 on Thursday, 15 April.

The Government continues to evaluate wider policy on international travel as informed by the epidemiological situation and public health advice, including the possibility of certain limited categories of essential workers for critical infrastructure. Public health will remain a paramount consideration.

Neither the Minister for Health or the Department of Health have any role in deciding which persons must enter mandatory quarantine or which persons are exempt from entering mandatory quarantine. All such decisions are to be determined in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

Hospital Waiting Lists

Ceisteanna (2208, 2209, 2210, 2211)

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

2208. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health the number of children under 18 years of age currently on a waiting list for inpatient day case at the end of March 2021 or the latest date available by hospital groups; and the number waiting six months or less, six to 12 months and more than 12 months in tabular form. [20133/21]

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

2209. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health the number of children under 18 years of age currently on a waiting list for inpatient day case GI endoscopy at the end of March 2021 or the latest date available by hospital groups; and the number waiting six months or less, six to 12 months and more than 12 months in tabular form. [20134/21]

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

2210. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health the number of children under 18 years of age on the outpatient day case waiting list at the end of March 2021 or the latest date available by hospital group; and the number waiting six months or less, six to 12 months and more than 12 months in tabular form. [20135/21]

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

2211. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health the number of children under 18 years of age currently on the outpatient day case waiting list for GI endoscopy at the end of March 2021 or the latest date available by hospital groups; and the number waiting six months or less, six to 12 months and more than 12 months in tabular form. [20136/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2208 to 2211, inclusive, together.

It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elective hospital care was curtailed for the first quarter of 2021, in line with the rapid increase in Covid-19 hospital admissions, with only critical time dependent elective procedures undertaken.

On 23 March the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”. This plan outlines a three phased approach for the proposed restoration of services across Community Services, Acute Hospital Operations, Cancer Services and Screening Services. It sets target times for their safe return and details the conditions and challenges that will have to be met. Every phase of the plan has been informed by clinical guidance and putting patient and staff safety first. Decisions in relation to the type and volume of activity will be made at site level based on local COVID-19 numbers, available capacity and guidance from national clinical leads.

The schedule outlined in the plan for resumption of services will be regularly monitored by the HSE and updated as appropriate, dependant on public health advice and healthcare capacity.

Patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.

The work of the HSE to improve access to elective care and reduce waiting times for patients is supported by the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF). This includes increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services where minor procedures are provided at the same time as outpatient consultations, funding hybrid services where public and private hospitals contribute to the treatment of patients, virtual clinics and clinical validation.

€240 million has been provided in Budget 2021 for an access to care fund, €210m of which has been allocated to the HSE and a further €30m to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This will be used to fund additional capacity to address the shortfall arising as a result of measures taken in the context of COVID-19, as well as to address waiting lists.

In relation to the data requested by the Deputy regarding the number of children under 18 currently on waiting lists, the NTPF has provided the attached document for Inpatient and Day Case (IPDC), Gastro-Intestinal Scopes (G.I. Scopes) and Outpatient (OPD) waiting lists.

The NTPF has further advised that within the Public Health System, children are generally classified as those under the age of 16, while the figures in the attached tables also include patients between 16 and 18 years of age, to reflect patients who were under 18 at the end of March 2021 according to the Date of Birth received from the relevant hospital.

Waiting Lists

Question No. 2212 answered with Question No. 1553.

Hospital Appointments Status

Ceisteanna (2213)

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

2213. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive an appointment for the national gender clinic. [20140/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The HSE is currently recommending that only critical time dependent elective procedures are undertaken at this time due to the on-going and significant increased demand for bed capacity related to COVID-19.

This decision was made arising from the rapid increase in COVID-19 admissions and to ensure patient safety and that all appropriate resources were made available for COVID-19 related activity and time-critical essential work.

Patient safety remains at the centre of all hospital activity and elective care scheduling. To ensure services are provided in a safe, clinically-aligned and prioritised way, hospitals are following HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.

On 23 March the HSE published the “Safe Return to Health Services Plan”. This plan outlines a three phased approach for the proposed restoration of services across Community Services, Acute Hospital Operations, Cancer Services and Screening Services. It sets target times for their safe return and details the conditions and challenges that will have to be met.

Every phase of the plan has been informed by clinical guidance and putting patient and staff safety first.

Decisions in relation to the type and volume of activity will be made at site level based on local COVID-19 numbers, available capacity and guidance from national clinical leads.

The schedule outlined in the plan for resumption of services will be regularly monitored by the HSE and updated as appropriate, dependant on public health advice and healthcare capacity.

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 is a standardised approach used by the HSE to manage scheduled care treatment for in-patient, day case and planned procedures. It sets out the processes that hospitals are to implement to manage waiting lists and was developed in 2014 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.

In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.

Question No. 2214 answered with Question No. 1783.

Ambulance Service

Ceisteanna (2215)

Kathleen Funchion

Ceist:

2215. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to a situation that developed recently in Borris, County Kilkenny (details supplied). [20143/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

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

Hospital Appointments Status

Ceisteanna (2216)

John Lahart

Ceist:

2216. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive orthodontic treatment in the dental hospital. [20153/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

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

Covid-19 Pandemic

Ceisteanna (2217)

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

2217. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the number of persons that arrived here in each week from 22 March 2021 to date that had been in a designated state in the previous 14 days; the number from each designated state in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20158/21]

Freagraí scríofa

Minister for Health

All passengers arriving into the state are required to complete a COVID-19 Passenger Locator Form (PLF) in accordance with SI 45/2021. There are limited exemptions from this requirement, as set out in the regulations, such as for international transport workers or for diplomats. The Passenger Locator Form is used to support a system of engagements with arriving passengers including the targeting of public health messaging by SMS and may be used for contact tracing.

It should be noted that PLF data does not constitute formal arrival data into the state, due to the different intended purpose for the system and also the number of exempted persons as set out above. In addition, some passengers may complete a PLF in advance but be unable to travel as intended, and the data below may include some duplicates for certain travellers. Passengers may have completed a PLF and continued their journey without staying overnight in the state or having transiting onto Northern Ireland.

The data below is an indicative number of passengers whose journey originated in a designated state as well as those passengers that listed a designated state in their recent travel history from 22 March to 11 April. This is the most recent date with validated data.

There are currently 71 states designated by the Minister as listed at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b4020-travelling-to-ireland-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#designated-states-mandatory-hotel-quarantine For the period in question there was 33 designated states up to 5th April, from 6th April to 10th April there were 58 states and from 11th April there was 55.

41,277 Passenger Locator Forms were completed during this period from all countries of departure for relevant travellers. 2.8% of the Passenger Locator Forms indicated a designated state.

The data provided below is where a minimum number of 10 arrived from a designated state, as providing any smaller numbers could risk identifying individual passengers. Where a passenger has declared that they have travelled in a number of designated states prior to arriving into Ireland, the most recent state is reported.

The data in the table below includes the number of accompanying children under 16 declared on the PLF. No further information is recorded on passengers under 16 years of age.

The figures below are subject to change due to ongoing data cleansing e.g. duplication where passengers completed the PLF twice.

Designated State	Mar 22-28	Mar 29 – Apr 4	Apr 5-11
Argentina	16	*	*
Austria	27	*	11
Brazil	201	62	63
Moldova	-	-	18
Nigeria	-	-	65
Oman	-	-	12
Philippines	-	-	45
Qatar	-	-	27
South Africa	62	50	40
United Arab Emirates	219	43	72
Zimbabwe	10	*	*
*Other	29	39	64
Total	564	194	417

-refers to countries added to designated state list from 6th April and are not included in the data before this date.

*refers to countries in the table where passenger numbers are less than 10. This data is included in Other and includes the following for the relevant weeks:

Albania, Andorra, Angola, Argentina, Aruba, Austria, Bahrain, Bolivia, Bonaire, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cabo Verde, Chile, Colombia, DR Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Guyana, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Monaco, Montenegro, Mozambique, Namibia, North Macedonia, Palestine, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, St Lucia, Suriname, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Note: The designation of Mauritius was revoked on 6th April, and the designations of Albania, Israel and Saint Lucia was revoked on 11th April