Written Answers Nos. 1496-1502
1496. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the campaign by an organisation (details supplied) for immediate action on the reform of regulation in the nursing home sector; and his views on the recent submission by the organisation to the Oireachtas Committee on Health which raises a number of issues (details supplied). [29449/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department has received correspondence from members of the Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI) and has recently responded to members, providing the current position on the issues highlighted.
Since the start of the pandemic there has been significant and ongoing consideration of the impact of COVID-19 and the evolution of the response to it, as evidence and knowledge emerged, and as national and international understanding of the virus evolved. Throughout, this has included a specific and sustained focus on older persons, and in particular, those resident in nursing homes.
The independent COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel was established in May 2020 and the Expert Panel’s report, published in August 2020, outlines the key protective measures that we must ensure are in place across our nursing homes, based on learning from our own and the international experience of COVID-19. The report also makes a series of recommendations in relation to broader reform of older persons’ care. Work is ongoing across health agencies and stakeholders to progress the recommendations of the Expert Panel. Three progress reports have been published, while a fourth progress report is due to be published shortly. All progress reports are available on my Department’s website (www.gov.ie/en/publication/c7f5b-covid-19-nursing-homes-expert-panel-report-implementation-oversight-team/).
One area of reform recommended by the Expert Panel relates to a review of the nursing home regulatory regime. In March 2022, Government approval was granted to draft a General Scheme for a Bill to provide interim enhancements to the regulatory framework in relation to compliance mechanisms and data collection. A wider review of the nursing home regulatory model will commence in the second half of 2022 which will be informed by an international evidence review and stakeholder consultation.
My Department is also examining complaints processes across the nursing home sector, and in tandem with this work, the Patient Advocacy Service (PAS), which currently supports residents in HSE-operated nursing homes to make complaints, will begin its rollout to private nursing homes at the end of 2022.
More broadly, the Taoiseach has indicated that a comprehensive evaluation of how the country managed COVID-19 will be undertaken which will provide an opportunity to learn lessons from our experiences in dealing with a pandemic over the past 2 years. This will help ensure that we are in a better, stronger position if another pandemic or another similar type of emergency arrives. Consideration is being given as to what the best model for this evaluation will be.
1497. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Health the situation with respect to waiting lists for ophthalmology services at Cork University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29463/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn relation to the particular query raised by the Deputy, the attached document outlines the IPDC & OPD ophthalmology waiting lists at Cork University Hospital. This information is also available on the NTPF website at: www.ntpf.ie/home/nwld.htm
It is recognised that waiting times for scheduled appointments and procedures have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. While significant work continues to positively impact on waiting times and improve pathways to elective care, acute hospitals have been impacted by operational challenges arising from surges in cases related to the Omicron variants.
The HSE has confirmed to the Department that 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 Department of Health continues to work with the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) to identify ways to improve access to care, including through increased use of private hospitals, funding weekend and evening work in public hospitals, funding “see and treat” services, providing virtual clinics, and increasing capacity in the public hospital system.
The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan, which was launched on the 25th of February, allocates €350 million to the HSE and NTPF to reduce waiting lists. Under this plan the Department, HSE, and NTPF will deliver urgent additional capacity for the treatment of patients, as well as investing in longer term reforms to bring sustained reductions in waiting lists.
The plan builds on the successes of the short-term 2021 plan that ran from September to December last year. The 2021 plan was developed by the Department of Health, the HSE and the NTPF and was driven and overseen by a senior governance group co-chaired by the Secretary General of the Department of Health and the CEO of the HSE and met fortnightly.
This rigorous level of governance and scrutiny of waiting lists has continued into this year with the oversight group evolving into the Waiting List Task Force. The Task Force will meet regularly to drive progress of the 2022 plan.
This is the first stage of an ambitious multi-annual waiting list programme, which is currently under development in the Department of Health. Between them, these plans will work to support short, medium, and long term initiatives to reduce waiting times and provide the activity needed in years to come.
CUH OPD Ophthalmology Waiting List
|
0-6 Mths |
6-12 Mths |
12-18 Mths |
18+ |
Total |
|
1602 |
1304 |
812 |
3888 |
7606 |
CUH IPDC Ophthalmology Waiting List
|
0-6 Mths |
6-12 Mths |
12-18 Mths |
18+ |
Total |
|
0 |
2 |
1 |
4 |
7 |
1498. Deputy David Stanton asked the Minister for Health the current situation with respect to children who are awaiting insulin pump upgrades at the paediatric diabetes department of Cork University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29464/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service issue I have asked the HSE to respond directly to the Deputy.
1499. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the steps that he will take to ensure that existing policy barriers are removed to ensure that Ireland honours its commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, in particular the requirement that patients need to be engaged with opioid substitution to be treated in the community or by their general practitioner and the barriers to community pharmacists managing and dispensing hepatitis C medications; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29468/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraHepatitis C virus is a major cause of liver disease worldwide with an estimated 80 million people chronically infected. Ireland views Hepatitis C as a public health threat and is committed to the WHO target of eliminating it by 2030.
The HSE established a National Hepatitis C Treatment Programme (NHCTP) in 2015 and began the process of providing treatment for Hepatitis C using Directly Acting Antivirals to patients prioritised according to clinical need.
Since 2016, the HSE in its National Service Plans has committed to the continued implementation of a multi annual public health plan for the therapeutic treatment across a range of healthcare settings to all persons living with Hepatitis C in Ireland. The NHCTP goal is to make hepatitis C a rare disease in Ireland by 2026, and in accordance with the WHO target, to eliminate it in Ireland by 2030. In order to achieve this, the NHCTP has been allocated funding of €25m each year.
The NHCTP works in partnership with the Irish Prison Service nationally, and with Hospital and community teams, to provide outreach to all prisoners that require treatment for Hepatitis C.
Since its inception in 2015, the NHCTP has treated over 6,600 patients with Hepatitis C virus. The focus has been in the east of the country as the evidence to date has indicated that this is where the highest population needing Hepatitis C treatment has resided. The NHCTP’s Community Prescribing Project has been developed to widen the availability of the Hepatitis C treatment to enable GPs to treat people who are on opioid substitution treatment across the country. The Community Prescribing Project will expand in the future to be available for people not on the opioid substitution treatment scheme.
In addition, an online home testing option is currently being scoped by the NHCTP and will expand the testing and treatment to people who are currently undiagnosed. It is anticipated that this will be available later this year. The NHCTP will utilise all possible treatment options and the medical needs of individuals identified will dictate which care pathway is best. Treatment will remain free to people regardless of where the service is delivered. The NHCTP will develop a communication plan to support the rollout of the home testing service later this year. This communication plan will also aim to destigmatise the testing and treatment associated with Hepatitis C.
The NHCTP reports that it is very much still on track to eliminate the Hepatitis C virus in Ireland by 2030.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) conducted a Health Technology Assessment regarding the feasibility of national birth cohort screening for the Hepatitis C virus. HIQA published the results of that Health Technology Assessment in 2021. It recommended a national program of birth cohort testing for Hepatitis C for people in Ireland born between 1965 and 1985.
In collaboration with HIQA, the NHCTP is currently carrying out a national sero-prevalence study to estimate the prevalence of Hepatitis C virus infection in that Irish birth cohort (i.e., those born between 1965 and 1985). The study is being carried out using residual sera from tests sent in by general practitioners (GPs). To date 6,000 samples have been analysed and the results are expected by the end of July 2022. This study will give indications of what percentage of the population have the Hepatitis C virus, but all indications are that the remaining number of people to be treated are low.
1500. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the progress in implementing social prescribing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29469/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra1501. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will implement a self-referral system for social prescribing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29470/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra1502. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will implement a digital solution for social prescribing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29471/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 1500, 1501 and 1502 together.
Social prescribing is a means of enabling healthcare professionals and other professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services provided by the voluntary and community sector. It is a key enabler and effective means of linking those with mental health difficulties to community-based supports and interventions through the local Voluntary and Community Sector.
Social isolation, fear and loneliness and (typically) associated inactivity, have negative consequences for both physical and mental health and can particularly impact older age groups, those with chronic health problems, people with mental health difficulties and psychosocial needs, carers, single parents, migrant and immigrant and minority ethnic groups.
In recognition of the supports that social prescribing can provide, the Programme for Government, 2020, Our Shared Future, includes a commitment to "Seek to expand social prescribing where patients are referred to non-clinical activities, as a means of positively influencing mental wellbeing ".
Last year, I was pleased to launch the HSE's Social Prescribing Framework, which commits to mainstreaming and integrating social prescribing within Community Healthcare Networks across the country.
The Framework is providing, and will continue to provide, strategic guidance and direction to the further development and sustainability of social prescribing.
There are currently 31 HSE funded social prescribing services across the country. 19 of these are Sláintecare Healthy Communities sites; some of the other services were formerly funded under the Sláintecare Integration Fund and mainstreamed within the HSE through the 2022 Estimates process. The services are delivered by community and voluntary organisations through grant aid agreements with the HSE.
With regard to the detailed information sought, as these are service matters I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
