Written Answers Nos. 403-413
403. Deputy Verona Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of step-down beds in private nursing homes in County Wexford offered to his Department as a discharge option to ease overcrowding and increase capacity at Wexford General Hospital since 1 December 2022, to date; the number of these beds purchased by his Department as a step-down bed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5428/23]
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.
404. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health the protocols, including recourse for patients, which are applied by public hospitals when patient files go missing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5431/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
405. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health if information files pertaining to patient health are shared between private hospitals and public hospitals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5432/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
406. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health what happens when an external report on an incident at a public hospital is filed; if hospital management are obliged to prepare an action plan in response to identified shortcomings and recommendations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5433/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputies question relates to a service issue, I have referred the question to the Health Service Executive for consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
407. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health if there is a unit within his Department or the Health Service Executive that ensures that recommendations set out in external reports into incidents in public hospitals are acted upon; if he will provide details of the level of oversight this unit has; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5434/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe National Patient Safety Office (NPSO) in the Department of Health provides leadership and direction with regard to developing patient safety policy and legislation which supports patient safety and quality priorities and initiatives through evidence-based policy-making. The Department of Health has no role in incident management, operational responsibility for this lies with the HSE and I have referred this for direct reply for the Deputy.
408. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health the number of incident reports that have been undertaken at University Hospital Limerick; the number of recommendations that have been made arising from these reports; the status of these recommendations; if he will provide an overview of the main changes that have taken place in terms patient care arising from reports; and the recommendations across the past five years, in tabular form. [5435/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputies question relates to a service issue, I have referred the question the Health Service Executive for consideration and direct reply to the Deputy.
409. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health if he will give consideration to locating the proposed surgical hub proposed for the mid-west region at Ennis General Hospital (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5438/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have asked the HSE, which will be working with Hospital Groups to progress proposals for Surgical Hubs, to respond to you directly in relation to this matter.
410. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of an appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5439/23]
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.
411. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will include pain relief patches on the medical card (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5440/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drug schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013.
Reimbursement for medicines under the community drugs schemes is for licenced indications which have been granted market authorisation by the European Medicines Agency or the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA).
The following pain relief patches are currently available on the Reimbursement list:
- Durogesic DTrans Transdermal patched
- Fental Matrix Transdermal patches
- Matrifen Transdermal patches
- Fentadur Transdermal patches
- Butrans Transdermal patches
- Versatis plasters (subject to a managed access system, indicated for post-herpetic neuralgia)
Patients prescribed Versatis plasters are reviewed by the Medicines Management Programme (MMP) for reimbursement approval, on foot of an application by the patient’s clinician, through the HSE online system.
In exceptional circumstances, Versatis plasters may be approved for supply for unlicensed uses. If an application is refused, the clinician may make an appeal to the MMP by email, making a clear clinical case for the patient.
This process ensures that post-shingles patients, and other patients as clinically appropriate, can continue to have this specific treatment.
412. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Health the reason a patient (details supplied) and their family were not informed that they could potentially lose their bed in hospital after going to stay with family over Christmas; and if this person will be offered the care they had been receiving prior to Christmas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5445/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
413. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if the Government will investigate the causes of the large increase in the death rate in Ireland. [5446/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department of Health and the HSE keep under review a range of population health and epidemiological indicators to assess the impact of health threats in Ireland.
The Department of Health does not produce estimates of excess mortality. However, the Department closely monitors estimates of excess mortality which are published by a range of different sources.
Ireland continues to participate in EuroMOMO, a European mortality monitoring activity, aiming to detect and measure excess deaths related to seasonal influenza, pandemics and other public health threats. The latest published data from EuroMOMO is available here.
As per previous winter respiratory viral seasons when influenza and other respiratory viruses circulate at high levels in Ireland and Europe contributing to excess mortality, it is anticipated that excess mortality during the 2022/2023 winter period will be reported as deaths from late 2022 and early 2023 are registered.
The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) include an update on excess mortality in their weekly Influenza Surveillance Report.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) publishes official statistics on mortality in Ireland and publishes quarterly and yearly statistics on registered deaths through their Vital Statistics publications. The latest published data is for Quarter 2 2022 and data is provisional. Provisional data for Quarter 3 2022 will be published in March and for Quarter 4 2022 in June. This will include data on cause of death.
The Department of Health and HSE will continue to work closely with all stakeholders to monitor trends in mortality in Ireland.
