Written Answers Nos. 653-672
653. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of home care and home help hours delivered in 2021, broken down by provider and by home help category; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35375/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
654. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of home care and home help hours funded in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35376/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
655. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of funded home care and home help hours not delivered in 2021 due to staff shortages or for other reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35377/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
656. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the estimated number of home care and home help hours that will not be provided in 2022 due to staff shortages or for other reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35378/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
657. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of home care and home help hours currently funded by the HSE and the delivery of home help hours for January to May 2022, broken down by month, provider and home help category, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35379/22]
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.
658. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of home care and home help hours delivered to date in 2022; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35380/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
659. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the various types of home care or home help packages or services provided by the HSE; the full list of organisations which provide home care or home help packages or services; the pathway to receiving such packages or services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35381/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the deputy directly, as soon as possible.
660. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of inpatient hospital beds funded and open in public hospitals from the year 2000 to date, broken down by year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35382/22]
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.
661. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the total cost to date for all children referred to an organisation (details supplied) for an assessment, broken down by month and the number of children referred; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35383/22]
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.
662. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the details of any contracts in place between the HSE and a company (details supplied); the nature and scope of any contract; the terms associated with each contract; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35393/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra663. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if the HSE has agreed terms with a company (details supplied) for outsourcing assessments of need per child; if so, the costs per child; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35394/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra664. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the average cost of an assessment of need for a child with a disability carried out by the HSE; the average cost of an assessment carried out by a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35395/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra665. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the methodology used by a company (details supplied) in carrying out assessments of need on children outsourced by the HSE; if there is any difference between the operating procedure carried out by the company in comparison with the HSE; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35396/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra666. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the quality assurances or checks that are in place to ensure compliance with agreements which may be in place between the HSE and a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35397/22]
Amharc ar fhreagra667. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the reporting mechanism in place between the HSE and an organisation (details supplied) to ensure that assessments of need outsourced to the organisation are carried out in a timely fashion. [35398/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 662 to 667, inclusive, together.
As the Deputy's questions relate to service issues, they have been referred to the HSE for direct reply.
668. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the total amount allocated by the HSE to provide direct general practitioner-referred access to diagnostics for 2021 and to the end of May 2022, broken down by diagnostic provider and diagnostic categories; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35399/22]
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.
669. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the use of unique patient identifiers in the healthcare system; his plans to increase and expand the use of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35400/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Individual Health Identifier (IHI) was used extensively during the pandemic and indeed everyone who received a Covid vaccination in Ireland had their IHI assigned to the vaccination record created for them at the time. This enabled the linking of records as people received multiple vaccinations (two doses for primary vaccination plus subsequent booster) and will continue to be of value as future boosters are offered to people. There were a lot of valuable lessons learned as the health system deployed the IHI at scale, including the importance of recording mobile numbers, email address and EIRCODE as part of the supporting IHI dataset and the significance of PPSNs as a means for people to readily identify their corresponding IHI number. Indeed the upcoming Health Information Bill will promote the PPSN as the primary identifier for citizens using the health service with the IHI embedded within the healthcare records themselves, as recommended by HIQA. Experience from the pandemic, and the national vaccination programme, has proven that the PPSN (along with name and date of birth) is the simplest way for health service providers to allocate an IHI to a clinical record. PPSNs and photo identification were used to identify users of the national vaccination programme. It provided a robust mechanism of allocating Individual Health Identifiers and subsequently issuing Digital COVID-19 Certificates (DCCs), to all those who received a vaccination. As a process, this is a potential basis for further deployments to GP systems, hospital Patient Appointment Systems (PAS) and the national maternity system in 2022.
Deployment of eHealth solutions and the joining up of health records from across the health system also requires the deployment of individual health identifiers (IHI).
670. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health his plans to improve electronic or digitised patient record systems and greater sharing of such records between primary, community and acute healthcare providers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35401/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThis week (July 4th 2022) the Department of Health secured approval from Government to enter into contracts for the delivery of an enterprise level Electronic Health Record System for the New Children’s Hospital. This will enable the facility to open as a digital hospital and represent a significant step forward in the journey towards achieving digitised patient record systems and enabling greater sharing of such records between care providers that are based in different healthcare settings. The implementation of an EHR at CHI follows previous deployment of EHR system in Ireland and builds on the success of the electronic health record programmes at the country’s largest maternity hospitals and at St James’s Hospital in Dublin.
Since 2022, contracts are also in place for the delivery of clinical management systems capable of delivering electronic health records for patients at the new National Rehabilitation and National Forensics Hospitals.
Also in 2022, market soundings were completed for a suitable patient management systems across the community healthcare setting and a public spending code compliant business case will be developed to secure sanction for investment in this important area.
The Maternal and Newborn Clinical Management System (MN-CMS), which generates electronic health records for newborn babies and their mothers, is now well established. It has now been implemented in CUH, University Hospital Kerry, The Rotunda Hospital and National Maternity Hospital, resulting in more than 40% of babies born in Ireland having an EHR created at birth. Approval has been provided for deployment to the Coombe Women’s Hospital and the maternity hospital at University Hospital Limerick and these sites are scheduled to go live in 2022 and 2023. This will result in 70% of babies born in Ireland having electronic health records at birth. An approach to the wider deployment of EHRs at national, regional and local level will also be considered in the context of a refreshed eHealth Digital healthcare strategy, due later this year.
The National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS) captures images digitally for all major modalities at all major acute healthcare settings, which facilitates sharing of these images regardless of where a patient if being treated.
Combined with widespread adoption of practice management systems at GP surgeries and community pharmacy systems, where patient medical information is stored in digital format, and the national digital messaging systems 'Healthlink' for sharing of clinical information, Ireland is certainly in a better position that it was just a few years ago. Nonetheless, sustained investment and focus is required to get to where we need to be, whereby digital records become the norm across the Irish health system, and where systems can share the information more easily so that healthcare professionals can access and update the information they need for the patient they are treating, safely and securely. Based on experience from other countries that have more digitally mature health systems, we expect that will require an ongoing commitment in terms of funding and resources in the short, medium and long term.
671. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health if there has been progress made on the pay increase due to kitchen staff working in the HSE given that many staff have been waiting several years for the pay increase. [35413/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraFirstly, I would like to acknowledge the hard work carried out by hospital chefs in the HSE.
As you may be aware, the current Public Service Agreement, Building Momentum, includes the process of Sectoral Bargaining, to address outstanding claims. Health Management have been engaged in this process over the last number of months. We expect negotiations to conclude shortly and any outcomes from these negotiations will be circulated. As this is an ongoing Industrial Relations process it would not be appropriate for us to comment on specific claims.
672. Deputy Martin Browne asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to children in need of urgent dental work facing wait times of several years (details supplied); and the measures that are in place to address this issue. [35417/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE provides orthodontic treatment to those who have the greatest level of need and have been assessed and referred for treatment before their 16th birthday. I am aware of that there are currently significant delays in accessing this service and that the HSE has put in place a number of measures to address waiting times.
The filling of permanent vacancies is being prioritised, with the recent recruitment of a Consultant Orthodontist in CHO 6 (Loughlinstown, Dublin) and competitions ongoing in the South East and Kerry.
I recently announced the Waiting List Action Plan initiative for 2022, where funding was made available for identified community initiatives, including a €4.1m allocation to focus on orthodontics.
The HSE extended the orthodontic procurement programme that allows patients to have treatment with private Specialist Orthodontists. Under the updated framework children and young people assessed as Grade 4 - whose care that can be appropriately dealt in a community practice setting, and who have been waiting over 4 years are offered treatment. To date over 742 patients have accepted transfer and are currently in treatment.
The HSE is also developing service improvement initiatives to ensure that all referrals will receive an orthodontic assessment within 6 months and that the number of inappropriate referrals will be reduced.
Access to orthodontic treatment in another EU jurisdiction is also available under the EU Cross Border Healthcare Directive for patients that are already on an orthodontic treatment waiting list. Many patients in border areas have accessed care in Northern Ireland through this route pre-Brexit. This is being continued through the Northern Ireland Planned Health Care Scheme.
