Written Answers Nos. 179-198
179. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health when confirmation of funding for 2022 will be given to drug and alcohol task forces; the criteria used for the funding recommendation and the allocation made; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59183/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra180. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the differences between regional drugs and alcohol task forces, for example the way a service can be meeting all the criteria in one task force area and not in another; if the criteria used is the same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59184/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 179 and 180 together.
The HSE National Service Plan 2022 will provide details on the allocation of funding to drug and alcohol task forces. It is standard procedure for the allocation of funding notices to be issued following the approval of the national service plan.
In addition, I will shortly announce details of new funding to enhance community-based drug and alcohol services. This will include additional funding of €0.5m in Budget 2022 to increase access to and provision of community-based drug and alcohol services for women, ethnic minorities and LGBTI+. The lived experience of people who use drugs will be central to the design and delivery of the new services, as will the network of drug and alcohol task forces. This funding will be allocation using a population-based resource allocation model, as recommended in the SlainteCare reform programme.
I believe that this additional funding will strengthen the health-led approach to drug and alcohol use as
set out in the Programme for Government and support the strategic priorities for 2021-2025 under the national drugs strategy, which I recently announced.
181. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the amount of funding allocated to a centre (details supplied). [59185/21]
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.
182. Deputy Steven Matthews asked the Minister for Health the position regarding the number of persons who have been fully vaccinated but have subsequently been diagnosed with Covid-19 from June 2021 to date; the breakdown of the confirmed cases by the vaccine with which persons were inoculated with in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59208/21]
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.
183. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) in relation to the national maternity hospital.; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59210/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to the development of the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) planned for the St Vincent’s University Hospital Campus at Elm Park, as set out in the Programme for Government.
As the Deputy may be aware, the proposed corporate and clinical governance arrangements for the new National Maternity Hospital were set out in the Mulvey Agreement, which was finalised in 2016 following an extensive mediation process between the NMH and St. Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG). The Mulvey Agreement provides for the establishment of a new company - National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park DAC - which will have clinical and operational, as well as financial and budgetary independence in the provision of maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services.
The draft legal framework that has been developed is designed to copperfasten these arrangements and to ensure protection of the State’s investment. Work is ongoing towards the finalisation of the legal arrangements.
I have been clear that I will not bring any proposal to Government unless it affirms that that State’s investment in the new hospital is safeguarded, as well as providing assurances around all legally permissible services being provided in the new NMH. However, as I have stated previously, I will not be making any further comment in relation to this matter until the process has concluded.
184. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Health his views on a matter (details supplied) in relation to abortion law; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59212/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraOn 25 May 2018, a referendum was held on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, where the people voted overwhelmingly in favor of deleting Article 40.3.3 in its entirety, and substituting an article in the Constitution, the object and effect of which is to articulate clearly the principle that laws may be enacted by the Oireachtas to provide for the regulation of termination of pregnancy.
The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018 was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas on 13 December 2018 , signed into law on 20 December 2018 and commenced on 1 January 2019. The Act sets out the law governing access to termination of pregnancy in Ireland. It permits termination to be carried out in cases where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman, including in an emergency; where there is a condition present which is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within 28 days of birth; and without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Under section 7 of the Act, a review of the operation of the Act must be initiated within three years of the commencement of the Act, i.e., before January 2022. The review of the operation of the Act is being progressed this year, in line with statutory and Government commitments, and will conclude in 2022.
The review, which will comprise a three-part approach to appraise the operation of the Act, with strands focusing on service users, service providers and a public consultation. Independent research commissioned to inform the service user and service provider strands will form key elements of the review. An opportunity will be provided for interested groups, organisations, and members of the public to provide their views to inform the review.
Upon completion, a full report with any necessary recommendations will be submitted to me, as Minister, for consideration.
185. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Health his views on whether there is an urgent need to increase the number of neurology nurses in the State in order to bring the numbers up to international standards (details supplied); if he will provide funding for at least an additional 16 neurology nurses for Cork University Hospital as part of 100 additional neurology nurses across the State;; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59214/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn 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.
186. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Health if there are plans to put the infrastructure in place to administer a third dose of Covid-19 vaccines to all age groups following the advice of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on third doses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59215/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe immunisation programme in Ireland is based on the advice of the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC). The NIAC makes recommendations on vaccination policy to my Department based on the prevalence of the relevant disease in Ireland and international best practices in relation to immunisation.
On 25 November the NIAC recommended that a booster of an mRNA vaccine be offered to persons aged 16-49 years. The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has endorsed the latest NIAC recommendations. Booster vaccines should be offered to those in previously recommended groups before progression to the younger age cohorts.
On 15 November the NIAC recommended that a booster of an mRNA vaccine be offered to persons aged 16-59 years with underlying conditions, all residents in Long Term Healthcare Facilities and persons aged 50-59 years. The CMO has endorsed the NIAC recommendations and written to the HSE requesting the recommendations be operationalised as soon as possible.
The NIAC has previously recommended that an mRNA booster be offered to those aged 60 years and older and healthcare workers. I have accepted this advice and the HSE has made the necessary arrangements to operationalise these recommendations with the booster rollout now underway.
The booster dose should be given after a minimum interval of five months following the last dose of an authorised Covid-19 vaccine. Those who received Covid-19 vaccine Janssen as their primary vaccination should receive an mRNA booster after an interval of three months. The NIAC will continue to examine emerging evidence regarding booster vaccines.
187. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the difficulty some elderly medical card holders are having receiving chiropodist care due to the additional cost on top of their medical card that they have to pay (details supplied); and if the scheme will be reviewed. [59258/21]
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.
188. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of PCR test appointments available to book for the past month given the current delays for people accessing PCR test appointments. [59265/21]
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.
189. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 178 of 24 November 2021, if he has raised with HIQA the issue of the challenge facing health service providers including in particular disability services in reopening facilities given the difficulty in complying with HIQA standards particularly around staffing levels; his views on whether there are grounds for reconsidering these on an interim basis given that the alternative is a total denial of service which is causing severe difficulty in many individual service user cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59266/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) is an independent authority established to drive high-quality and safe care for health and social care services in Ireland.
HIQA standards in regard to disability service providers focus on the delivery of high quality, safe services. Regarding staffing levels in designated centres, the regulations require providers to assess the staffing numbers and skill mix required to keep residents safe and to meet their assessed care and support needs. This is determined by the service providers.
When inspecting centres, HIQA inspectors confirm that the provider has undertaken the appropriate assessment of care and support needs, has identified the staffing numbers and skill mix required to meet those assessed needs and to keep residents safe, and that providers are ensuring that their actual staffing levels meet those assessed needs. HIQA inspectors do not determine the numbers and skill mix of staffing in a centre.
The Minister and his officials regularly engage with HIQA in regard to its functions and activities.
190. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health if a decision has been made with regard to the allocation of the €500,000 to address the crack cocaine crisis announced as part of Budget 2022; if not, when this decision will be made in order that community drugs projects that are struggling to maintain services will have clarity on available funding from 1 January 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59275/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn Budget 2022, an additional €6m was provided for new health measures to support the implementation of the national drugs strategy, Reducing Harm Supporting Recovery.
As part of this €6m, €0.5m was allocated to address high risk drug use, such as crack cocaine and other drugs. The funding will expand harm reduction responses both in local communities and as a response to the use of stimulant drugs in the night time economy. It will also extend the Naloxone demonstration Project to prevent drug overdose deaths.
The Department of Health has published a factsheet on the additional funding in Budget 2022 which can be found at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/001fc-budget-2022-factsheet/. This includes a summary of the new health measures in tabular format.
The HSE National Service Plan 2022 will provide details on the allocation of the new funding.
I believe this new funding will strengthen the health-led approach to drug and alcohol use as
set out in the Programme for Government and support the strategic priorities for 2021-2025 under the national drugs strategy, which I recently announced.
191. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will address the matter of funding for the Parkinson's Association and the need for specialist nurses to be put in place throughout the country; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59283/21]
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.
192. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Health if there is a funding mechanism for healthcare assistants currently employed by the HSE for emergency medical technician courses run by an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59294/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter for the National Ambulance Service in the first instance I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
195. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Health the proposed expected timeframe in relation to the issuing of certificates for booster doses; if he will detail the technical specifications being considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59315/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/2014 of 17 November 2021 amending Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/1073 laying down technical specifications and rules for the implementation of the trust framework for the EU Digital COVID Certificate established by Regulation (EU) 2021/953 was adopted by the Commission on 17 November and published on 18 November in the Official Journal.
The technical specifications in this Implementing Decision relating to additional Covid vaccination doses are being considered, specifically the general rules concerning the value sets established to ensure interoperability on semantic level to allow uniform technical implementations for the EU Digital COVID Certificate, with a view to the issuing of certificates for booster doses.
196. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Health the current waiting lists for paediatric orthopaedic care by CHO; the plans in place to tackle these extensive waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59316/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI acknowledge that waiting times for many hospital procedures and appointments are unacceptably long. It is of particular regret that children can experience long waiting times for orthopaedic treatment, especially for time sensitive procedures, and I remain acutely aware of the impact that this has on children and their families. I remain committed to working to reduce waiting times for patients and bring them in line with Sláintecare targets.
Children with a range of needs rely on the orthopaedic service of Children’s Health Ireland, for example children with Spina Bifida, hip deformity, and other orthopaedic needs. Scoliosis activity accounts for approximately 17% of inpatient orthopaedic activity. The complex patient needs of these children remains at the forefront of service provision.
My Department has been working with the HSE and Children’s Health Ireland to deliver improved paediatric orthopaedic services. In 2018 Children’s Health Ireland was provided with an additional €9 million in funding to address paediatric orthopaedic waiting lists, including the provision of scoliosis services. This funding is recurring and has been provided in the base HSE allocation each year since 2018. The additional funding supported the recruitment of approximately 60 WTEs in 2018 and 2019 to enable the expansion of paediatric orthopaedic services. The posts relate to the multi-disciplinary team at diagnosis, pre-assessment, during surgery in theatre, and post operatively.
Children’s Health Ireland continue to examine new and innovative ways to improve access to orthopaedic services. “Cappagh Kids” at the National Orthopaedic Hospital at Cappagh provides additional theatre capacity for non-complex, age appropriate, orthopaedic procedures, freeing up much needed space at central CHI sites for children with complex, multi-disciplinary needs. Additional orthopaedic outpatient sessions are also now held at Cappagh, providing additional capacity to see and assess children on the outpatient waiting list.
In addition, a new fast-track orthopaedic pathway has been developed as part of outpatient reduction plans. Paediatric Active Clinical Triage has already been introduced for the longest waiters (over 12 months) on the paediatric outpatient list. This has reduced the number of long waiters from 987 to 403 since it started in October 2020.
Improving waiting times for hospital appointments and procedures remains a commitment of this Government. For 2022 an additional allocation of €250 million, comprised of €200 million to the HSE and €50 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) has been provided in respect of work to reduce hospital and community waiting lists. The €250 million will be used to fund additional activity in both the public and private sectors. The €50 million additional funding provided to the NTPF brings its total allocation for 2022 to €150 million, and as a consequence there will be a budget of €350 million available to support vital initiatives to improve access to acute hospitals and community health services.
In addition, my Department, the HSE and the NTPF are also working on a Multi Annual Waiting List Plan to bring waiting lists in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years. This process will be overseen by a Ministerial Taskforce, chaired by the Secretary General of my Department and includes representatives from the HSE and National Treatment Purchase Fund. The plan will be informed by the lessons learned from the successful Vaccine Taskforce.
The information requested by the Deputy is outlined in the attached document. The information set out in the document shows the number of children on Outpatient and Inpatient waiting lists for orthopaedic treatment by hospital group at the end of October 2021. This information is also available on the NTPF website at: www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm
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Statistical Disclosure Control (SDC) techniques have been applied to the data to preserve confidentiality and mitigate against identification or self-identification of individuals. In cases where there are less than 5 people in any particular cell, we have replaced that value with the average (mean) of all values that are less than 5 across that category. Any decimal values which arise have then been rounded. This may cause some rounding to occur when calculating sub-totals. Where there are <20 patients waiting in a particular specialty/hospital, we have aggregated the numbers under a ‘Small Volume’ heading. |
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Children on Outpatient WL for Orthopaedics at end October 2021 |
|||||
|
- |
0-6Months |
6-12Months |
12-18Months |
18+Months |
Grand Total |
|
Children's Health Ireland |
1483 |
874 |
522 |
903 |
3,782 |
|
Saolta |
369 |
280 |
169 |
339 |
1,157 |
|
University of Limerick |
119 |
44 |
49 |
12 |
224 |
|
Ireland East |
139 |
64 |
18 |
12 |
233 |
|
RCSI |
113 |
62 |
31 |
17 |
223 |
|
Dublin Midlands |
78 |
62 |
42 |
66 |
248 |
|
SSWHG |
615 |
172 |
92 |
79 |
958 |
|
Total |
2916 |
1558 |
923 |
1428 |
6825 |
|
Children on Inpatient/Daycase WL for Orthopaedics at end October 2021 |
|||||
|
0-6Months |
6-12Months |
12-18Months |
18+Months |
Grand Total |
|
|
Children's Helath Ireland |
459 |
260 |
132 |
348 |
1,199 |
|
Saolta |
25 |
13 |
11 |
15 |
64 |
|
Ireland East |
164 |
30 |
13 |
22 |
229 |
|
Small Vol HG |
51 |
14 |
4 |
4 |
72 |
|
Total |
699 |
317 |
160 |
389 |
1564 |
197. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health if he will respond to a query (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59343/21]
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.
198. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the number of beds available in Galway University Hospital, Newcastle Road and Galway University Hospital, Merlin Park respectively; the number of these occupied at the latest record of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59373/21]
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.
