Written Answers Nos. 593-615
593. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health if he will address the concerns raised in correspondence in relation to a patient (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60330/21]
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.
594. Deputy Alan Kelly asked the Minister for Health if funding for a nursing home (details supplied) or a refurbished home on the current or new site in Roscrea, County Tipperary is being included in the National Development Plan. [60336/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe NDP sets out capital ceilings over the next 5-year period for the health sector. Allocations to specific projects or programmes are not included in the NDP, they are determined at departmental/sectoral level in the capital planning process. This process for 2022 and beyond is underway. Capital plans will be developed taking account of factors including the service assessment of needs, prioritisation of projects, available funding, levels of contractual commitments and review and prioritisation of projects within these parameters.
595. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the total number of mental health liaisons to be placed in emergency departments as provided for in the HSE winter plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60337/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra596. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the emergency departments in which mental health liaisons will be placed as provided for in the HSE winter plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60338/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra597. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost of employing a mental health liaison respectively, inclusive of salary and PRSI costs as provided for in the HSE winter plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60339/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra598. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details of the delivery of the service mental health liaisons in emergency as provided for in the HSE winter plan; if the service will be 24-hour service; if peak times have been identified; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60340/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra599. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health if mental health liaisons will be implemented on an on-going basis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60341/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 595 to 599, inclusive, together.
As this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
600. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the steps that can be taken by a person (details supplied) to find a local general practitioner willing to take on an infant for care under the general practitioner care under six scheme in Celbridge, County Kildare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60347/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the GMS scheme, the HSE contracts GPs to provide medical services without charge to medical card and GP visit card holders. Certain groups, including all those under 6 years of age and those over 70 years of age, are automatically entitled to a GP visit card.
Where a GMS patient experiences difficulty in finding a GP to accept him/her as a patient, the person concerned having unsuccessfully applied to at least three GPs in the area (or fewer if there are fewer GPs in the area) can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit which has the power to assign a GMS patient to a GP's GMS patient list. Likewise, a parent on behalf of a child GMS patient who experiences difficulty in finding a GP that will accept their child as a patient can apply to the HSE National Medical Card Unit also.
601. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Health when a person (details supplied) will receive surgery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60352/21]
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.
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.
602. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 1160 of 9 September 2021, the status of the provision and full resumption of services in a centre (details supplied) in County Louth; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60357/21]
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.
603. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health if he will provide information on the process of testing of inpatients in cases in which there is no clinical suspicion of Covid-19 upon admission to hospital with particular reference to testing processes for a vaccinated versus unvaccinated patient whilst an inpatient at hospital; the details of the precise PCR assay threshold that is used by the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60358/21]
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.
604. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health the vaccine status of those staff, residents and patients involved in healthcare outbreaks of Covid-19 in hospital, nursing homes and residential care settings in the Roscommon-Galway region since July 2021 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60359/21]
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.
605. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health the weekly breakdown of all Covid-19 cases admitted to ICU which shows the precise number of vaccinated versus unvaccinated patients admitted to ICU and the cumulative weekly vaccine take-up by age in each corresponding week between 1 April 2021 to date in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60360/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraTo ask the Minister for Health the weekly breakdown of all Covid-19 cases admitted to ICU which shows the precise number of vaccinated versus unvaccinated patients admitted to ICU and the cumulative weekly vaccine take-up by age in each corresponding week between 1 April 2021 to date in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
606. Deputy Claire Kerrane asked the Minister for Health the variations in vaccination status of Covid-19 cases admitted to ICU in Ireland in comparison with the UK cases in recent weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60361/21]
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.
607. Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asked the Minister for Health the measures being taken to employ additional homecare staff; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60363/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraWork is ongoing within the Department of Health to progress the development of the new statutory scheme to support people to live in their own homes. Funding has been provided for the recruitment of 130 posts for the national roll-out of interRAI as the single assessment tool for care needs in the community.
A National Home Support Office is in the process of being established and a home support pilot commenced in November 2021 in one pilot site, with other pilot sites to be fully operational by January 2022.
Last year I secured additional funding of €150 million for home support which provides for an additional 5 million hours. The HSE has a target to deliver 24 million hours of home support this year and it is estimated that at the end of September some 15 million hours had been provided to over 53,000 people. This is about 2.2 million more hours compared to the same period last year. The funding secured in Budget 2021 to provide these additional 5 million hours has been maintained for 2022.
Overall, significant progress has been made on reducing waiting lists for people awaiting funding approval for home support from over 7,800 in January 2020 to just under 400 in September 2021. There can be delays, however, between funding approval and the delivery of home support hours. Notwithstanding this, the number of people waiting for home support across both categories has reduced from over 9,000 at the start of 2020 to approximately 5,300 at the end of September 2021.
In response to increasing workforce capacity issues in home support, recruitment campaigns continue through a variety of channels at both local and national level.
I continue to engage with key stakeholders on issues of recruitment and retention and I am also committed to establishing a Cross Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group. The role of the group will be to facilitate the views of stakeholders and examine workforce challenges in home support and nursing homes. Potential areas to be considered include recruitment, retention, training, and the career development of home support and nursing home workers into the future. A call for submissions to identify key issues and inform the establishment of the group was announced on Friday, 3rd December. The Department’s project team will analyse submissions received to inform the setting up of a Group in early 2022.
608. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Health if he will support the request by an organisation (details supplied) for the temporary assistance payment scheme to be reintroduced to cover the specific costs incurred to implement intensified infection prevention control measures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60369/21]
Amharc ar fhreagra628. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health if he plans to re-introduce the temporary assistance payment scheme for private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60503/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 608 and 628 together.
The Government has provided extensive support to the Nursing Home Sector since the start of the pandemic. The Temporary Assistance Payment Scheme (TAPS) was established in April 2020 as a temporary, administrative measure to respond to the challenges being faced by the nursing home sector at the start of the pandemic, and was extended twice beyond its original planned end date.
In broad terms, TAPS had substantially fulfilled its temporary purpose of providing financial support to nursing homes and residents to address COVID-19 and therefore it was appropriate to end the standard assistance element of the scheme in June 2021. From June onwards, in recognition of the residual risk presented by the virus, Minister Donnelly and I have agreed to the continued availability of the outbreak assistance element of the Scheme until the end of this year. This will ensure that contingency is available in the event of an outbreak.
According to the most recent available HSE data, from 24 November, over 8,172 claims had been processed, with some €120.7 million euro of direct financial support provided to the sector. Due to the extension of outbreak assistance, claims continue to be received and paid; €1.75m has been paid to nursing homes under 75 separate claims for outbreak assistance since the end of June. In total, €134.5 million has been made available under TAPS between 2020 and 2021.
There continue to be a number of outbreaks reported in nursing homes each week; however, current data suggests there may be a reduction in the number of associated cases per outbreak. The State has continued to prioritise residents of nursing homes in the response to COVID-19, including through the successful and early roll-out of the vaccine programme to nursing home residents. This prioritisation is continuing with the roll-out of booster vaccines to nursing home residents, which is expected to be completed by early December. The roll-out of booster vaccines has provided important protection for residents.
As the pandemic has continued, many further support measures for private and voluntary nursing homes have been made available through the Health Service Executive (HSE), including the provision of PPE on a no-cost basis, the implementation of serial testing, the support and engagement of COVID-19 response teams and public health teams, the temporary accommodation scheme for nursing home staff and further supports. Many of these supports will continue to be provided by the HSE for the foreseeable future.
609. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of operating theatres in the Mater, Beaumont and St Vincent's University Hospitals that are operating on a 24/7 basis in tabular form. [60373/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matters it has been referred to the HSE for direct response.
610. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of patients waiting for dermatology scopes as of 1 January 2021 and 1 December 2021, in tabular form. [60374/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been impacted in the last twenty months as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and more recently as a result of the ransomware attack. While significant progress was made in reducing waiting times from June 2020 onwards, the surge in Covid-19 cases in the first quarter of 2021 and the associated curtailment of acute hospital services, coupled with the ransomware attack of May 2021, has impacted waiting times.
The current surge in Covid-19 cases has put increasing pressures on hospitals and ICUs. As part of the response to this the HSE has advised all Hospital Groups to take a series of immediate actions which include a 14 day period of prioritising unscheduled care, COVID care and time sensitive work in particular in Model 4 hospitals. The situation is to be reviewed after that period.
On the 7th October I published the Acute Waiting List Action Plan. This plan, to run until December 2021, has a series of targeted measures that are designed to address the growth in waiting lists caused by Covid-19 and the cyber-attack.
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.
For 2022 an additional allocation of €250 million, comprised of €200 million to the HSE and €50 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund 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 relation to the particular query raised, regarding the number of patients waiting for dermatology scopes as of 1 January 2021 and 1 December 2021, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
611. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Health the number of whole-time equivalents by job title that are currently vacant in the diabetes team at Connolly Hospital, Dublin 15; the full year cost of filling each of the vacancies; and when each of the vacant posts will be filled in tabular form. [60375/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
612. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Health if he has met with a group (details supplied); and if he has plans to meet with the group in coming weeks in view of the changing situation regarding public health advice. [60386/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraI can confirm that I have not met with the Wedding International Professionals Association. Stakeholder engagement is a matter for the relevant Department. Guidelines for weddings are outlined in Fáilte Ireland guidance for hotels and guesthouses. This guidance will be updated to take account of the most recent Government decisions on public health measures. The guidance is available here: covid19.failteireland.ie/operational-guidelines/hotel-guesthouses/
613. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Health if he will provide one hundred additional neurology nurse specialists across Ireland including five extra nurses in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin as recommended by an association (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60410/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the HSE to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
615. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health if his Department has received a recommendation from the National Immunisation Advisory Committee for a 2022 start-date for the rollout of a National Immunisation Programme for varicella under the Programme for Government commitment; if funding has been secured for such an implementation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60418/21]
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.
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. All vaccines administered through the Primary Childhood Immunisation Schedule are provided free of charge.
Varicella (chickenpox) is an acute infectious disease caused by varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Primary infection with varicella results in varicella (chickenpox). Recurrent infection results in herpes zoster (shingles).
Varicella vaccination is not currently included as part of the routine childhood immunisation schedule.
The Varicella Zoster Vaccine was proposed for a Health Technology Assessment (HTA) by my Department in December 2019. Unfortunately, HIQA's HTA prioritisation process due to complete in Q1 2020 was paused as the HTA team was diverted to provide evidence synthesis to support the work of the NPHET and associated groups
This topic was subsequently considered by HIQA during the 2021 prioritisation process and was prioritised for inclusion in the HIQA HTA work programme for 2021/2022.
