Written Answers Nos. 772-792
772. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the way the 2023 HSE home support tender will impact the statutory home support scheme; and if the 2023 HSE home support tender will include a provision to accommodate the implementation of the statutory home support scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11590/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraWork on the 2023 Health Service Executive (HSE) home-support tender has begun. A joint working group involving the HSE and the Department of Health is in the process of being established to prepare the tender and ensure that it is in place from 1st January 2023. In parallel to this, work will continue on the statutory scheme for the regulation and financing of home-support. The joint working group will include the statutory scheme in its deliberations. As it is envisaged that the new tender will be in place before the statutory scheme comes into effect, the working group will consider options to accommodate this transition.
773. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Health the policy instructions or policy documents that he has brought to the attention of An Bord Pleanála since coming into office. [11601/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraNo policy instructions or policy documents have been brought to the attention of An Bord Pleanála by the Minister for Health since coming into office, June 2020.
774. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Minister for Health if a high level taskforce will be set up through the combined auspices of the National Dementia Office and the HSE Integrated Care Programme to scope out the service requirements for those with Huntington’s disease; if so, if he will ensure that a report is available within six months of the taskforce having been set up with a business case and a budget; and time span for implementation [11611/22]
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.
775. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he has arranged for the Department to establish a high-level working group as proposed by a group (details supplied) which would include all of the relevant stakeholders in order to develop a clear programme of action for the expansion of primary healthcare and community care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11628/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraGeneral practice plays a central role in the delivery of healthcare, and it is essential that we continue to attract, retain, and develop the best staff possible to deliver those services. This includes all staff in general practice, GPs themselves, practice nurses and other practice staff.
The Government is aware of the workforce issues currently facing general practice and has committed to providing significant additional resources to general practice to help to meet those challenges. We are working to ensure patients across the country continue to have access to GP services and that general practice is sustainable in all areas into the future.
Several efforts to increase the number of practising GPs have been undertaken in recent years. The number of entrants to GP training has increased from 120 in 2009 to 233 in 2021, with further increases planned. Changes have been made to the entry provisions to the GMS scheme to facilitate more flexible/shared GMS contracts, and to the retirement provisions for GPs under the GMS scheme. An enhanced supports package for rural GP practices was also introduced.
Recent developments in relation to general practice, in particular the 2019 Agreement on Contractual Reform and Service Development, have helped to re-establish general practice in Ireland as an attractive career choice. The additional investment, which will amount to €210 million annually once the Agreement is fully implemented, provides for an increase in capitation fees, improved maternity and paternity arrangements as well as enhanced supports for rural practices. In addition, targeted funding of €2 million will also be set aside to provide additional support to practices in deprived urban areas.
The involvement of stakeholders in considerations of how best to ensure that general practice can continue to deliver a high-quality, accessible, and sustainable service to patients will be essential. The ICGP has made and will continue to make a vital contribution to the delivery of general practice in this country, and my Department has a strong record of working with them.
Under the 2019 Agreement with GPs, we plan to undertake a strategic review of general practice. Preparatory work has commenced on this, and I have asked officials to provide me with a proposal for taking the substantive work forward before the end of this quarter. I anticipated that the ICGP will have an important contribution to make to that review.
776. Deputy Michael Collins asked the Minister for Health when the Health Service Executive will commence the tender process in respect to the procurement of both operational and strategic legal services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11629/22]
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.
777. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 509 of 16 December 2021, the status of the White Paper on human genomics and the appointment of a Director of the National Genomics and Genetics Medicine Network; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11639/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraA research paper which considered the potential role of genomic medicine in Ireland and which reviewed genomics strategies in other countries was presented to the Department of Health management board in January 2020.
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic led to a rapid reprioritisation of the Department’s activities to manage the health and social care system’s response to the crisis.
As we emerge from the emergency phase of the pandemic, this matter is again under active consideration.
In relation to the appointment of a Director of the National Genomics and Genetics Medicine Network, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
778. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health the amount that was spent through the dental treatment services scheme in each year for the past four years, in tabular form. [11665/22]
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.
779. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health the number of patients treated through the dental treatment services scheme in each year for the past four years, in tabular form [11666/22]
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.
780. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists operating within the dental treatment services scheme per CHO area in each year for the past four years in tabular form. [11667/22]
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.
781. Deputy Seán Crowe asked the Minister for Health when he expects agreement to be reached with an association (details supplied) to ensure that the dental treatment services scheme is able to provide more than emergency dental procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11668/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy immediate priority is to seek to address the current situation of medical card patients experiencing problems in accessing treatment.
In that respect, officials from my Department and from the HSE have held two rounds of discussions with the IDA, the most recent on 17 December last when my Department and the HSE presented proposals to invest additional resources in the Dental Treatment Services Scheme, including €10m provided in the Budget, on top of the 2022 Estimate allocation of €56 million.
The Department / HSE has offered increased fees across a number of items and proposed the reintroduction of the Scale and Polish item.
These proposals were expedited to address not only the problem of access for patients, but also concerns expressed by dentists about the viability of the DTSS, and to some extent, to bring about alignment with the Dental Treatment Benefits Scheme, which is widely operated by dentists for PRSI patients.
The Department wishes to move the process on, in the interests of patients, and a further round of discussions with the IDA is scheduled for the 2nd March.
In the meantime, I have been assured that the HSE Public Dental Service is seeking to provide emergency cover for any medical card patients who are experiencing problems in accessing a service from their local dentist.
783. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the status of plans to provide a primary care centre for an area (details supplied); the timescale involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11674/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Health Service Executive is responsible for the delivery of public healthcare infrastructure projects, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
784. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the status of plans to provide primary care centres for an area (details supplied); the timescales involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11675/22]
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.
785. Deputy Niall Collins asked the Minister for Health the status of the roll-out of free contraception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11676/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for Government commits to providing free contraception for women, starting with the 17-25 age cohort; roll-out is scheduled to commence in August 2022.
The scheme will provide for:
The cost of prescription contraception;
The cost of a minimum of two consultations per annum with GPs and other doctors to discuss suitable contraception for individual patients and to enable prescription of same;
The cost of fitting and/or removal of various types of long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs) plus any necessary checks, by medical professionals certified to fit/remove same;
The cost of training and certifying additional medical professionals to fit and remove LARCs;
Provision of contraceptive options currently available to GMS (medical) card holders through this scheme, to include contraceptive injections, implants, IUS and IUDs (coils), the contraceptive patch and ring, and various forms of oral contraceptive pill, including emergency contraception.
For items such as the contraceptive pill, these are typically prescribed at 6 month intervals, so two consultations allows for full provision. For LARCs, (e.g. IUS, IUD, implants, injections, patches and rings), where the fittings/injections are carried out by healthcare professionals, fitting and removal appointments are also provided for separately, in addition to the two consultations.
Work on the legislative framework for the scheme is ongoing. Formal negotiations with medical and other relevant representative bodies with regard to service provision are due to commence in March 2022. The design of information and publicity campaigns to support and promote the roll out of the scheme will be finalised in the coming months.
As part of the Budget 2022 allocation, funds are being made available for additional training capacity with respect to certification of medical professionals to fit and remove LARCs. The HSE is currently working on preparing to roll out these additional training supports.
787. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health his plans to address the staff shortage in the delivery of enhanced homecare packages and home help support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11682/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is committed to the development of improved community-based services, shifting care to the home, and offering greater choice for older people. As Minister with responsibility for this area I have prioritised home support services so that additional funding secured in Budget 2021 to provide an extra 5 million hours has been maintained under Budget 2022. It is estimated that in 2021 some 20.4 million hours had been provided to over 55,000 people. This is about 2.9 million more hours compared to 2020, an increase of 17%.
It takes some time between funding approval and the actual delivery of home support hours. Certain regions are experiencing increased pressures due to staff availability. At the end of December there were 5,322 people assessed and waiting for a carer to become available. A further 474 people were waiting for funding approval. To address this, the HSE is endeavouring to prioritise service for clients with the highest care needs, to ensure that the service can commence for those who require it most urgently. It is important to note that progress is being made in this area, and that the total number of people waiting for home support across both categories has reduced from over 9,000 at the start of 2020 to approximately 5,796 by the end of December 2021.
In relation to issues of recruitment and retention, I am committed to establishing a cross-Departmental Strategic Workforce Advisory Group, to examine strategic workforce challenges in front-line carer roles in home support and nursing homes.
The work of the Strategic Workforce Advisory Group will centre on engagement with the relevant stakeholders in the sector. To this end, a 'Call for Submissions' was issued by my Department to relevant stakeholders in December 2021. Following receipt of these completed submissions in January, my Department undertook a short-life scoping exercise to gather initial data and evidence on the nature and extent of the challenges in the sector to inform the structure and membership of this cross-departmental Group.
This scoping exercise is now complete and invitations to join the Group, along with its draft Terms of Reference, have been issued to all relevant Government Departments and agencies. The inaugural meeting of the Group will be held on Thursday, 3rd March 2022.
At this meeting, the Terms of Reference for the Group and action timelines will be agreed. These Terms of Reference will be published once finalised by the Group.
This Group will then progress a structured programme of ongoing consultative engagements with key sectoral stakeholders to further explore and define the issues, listen to stakeholder views, and identify approaches to respond to the strategic workforce challenges.
The Group will provide a forum for agreement on strategic approaches to address the workforce challenges in the sector and develop a report for my consideration outlining the Group’s key findings, recommendations, and a proposed action plan to support implementation of these recommendations, to include periodic monitoring of progress.
788. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the breakdown of the HSE budget spend on home help and carers in each CHO; the breakdown of the spend on private agencies and outsourcing of home support services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11683/22]
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.
789. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of persons in counties Roscommon, Galway and Mayo, respectively, approved for home help and homecare hours; the number of persons in receipt of home help approved for additional hours; the number of hours required to meet that need in each county; the number of persons on the waiting list in each county despite having already been approved for hours; the number of hours required to meet that need; the number of hours provided in each month to date in each county; the number of new hours allocated; the number of hours that became available for recycling; the number of home help hours that are not being completed due to staff shortages by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11684/22]
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.
790. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Health the number of persons waiting on home help hours in each CHO area; the number of hours required to meet that need; the number of persons in receipt of home help that are approved for additional hours; the number of hours required to meet that need in each CHO; the number of home help hours that are not being completed due to staff shortages by CHO in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11685/22]
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.
791. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health when a pre-hospital emergency care council first aid responder updated certificate will issue in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11686/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council (PHECC) is the independent statutory body with responsibility for standards, training and education in pre-hospital emergency care, including for a suite of responder level courses . Accordingly, I have asked the PHECC to respond to the Deputy in the matter enclosed with his question, as soon as possible.
792. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if he will review correspondence (details supplied); if he will address these concerns; his plans to change this testing regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11695/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
