Written Answers Nos. 618-638
618. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on the waiting list for a gallium scan; the hospitals in which these scans are performed, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8263/23]
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.
619. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the number of beds in each acute medical unit, acute medical assessment unit, medical short-stay unit and acute surgical assessment unit, broken down by unit for each county, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8264/23]
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.
620. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the funding for HSE dental services in the past three years in counties Kilkenny and Carlow; the number of children waiting for dental services in Kilkenny and Carlow; their waiting times; the locations in which children in the counties can have orthodontic treatment carried out; the number of orthodontists available to the HSE in this area; the criteria being applied that determines whether a child qualifies for HSE-funded orthodontic treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8265/23]
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.
621. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the level of funding provided for tobacco cessation services from 2017 to 2022, in tabular form; the budget allocated in 2023 for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8266/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, the Health Service Executive has been asked to respond to the Deputy as soon as possible.
622. Deputy Sean Sherlock asked the Minister for Health the individual CDNT teams in each CHO area that has a dietitian on its team; and the case load per dietitian, per CDNT team, in tabular form. [8278/23]
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.
623. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if a person (details supplied) is on the waiting list at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital for a cataract procedure. [8287/23]
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.
624. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if funding will be made available through the national service plan to develop a second respite house for adults with intellectual disabilities in south Kerry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8313/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this question refers to service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
625. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health when a surgery procedure for a person (details supplied) will take place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8327/23]
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.
626. Deputy Seán Canney asked the Minister for Health when front-line workers employed by a company (details supplied) will be paid the Covid bonus payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8329/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly.
627. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the number of children and adults who have been transferred to inpatient mental health facilities in Britain and the North of Ireland from 2014 to date in 2023, in tabular form; the number and location of such facilities; the amount which has been spent on this care for each facility. [8331/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra628. Deputy Mark Ward asked the Minister for Health the number of children and adults who have been transferred to inpatient mental health facilities in other countries due to a lack of capacity in the State from 2014 to date in 2023, in tabular form; the number and location of such facilities; and the amount which has been spent on this care for each facility. [8332/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 627 and 628 together.
As this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
629. Deputy Mick Barry asked the Minister for Health if public adult ADHD services will be available in the CHO 4 area in Cork; if he will report on waiting lists for public ADHD assessments in CHO 4 and nationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8340/23]
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.
630. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant cardiothoracic surgeons working in the Mater Hospital in the years of 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [8354/23]
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.
631. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant maxillofacial surgeons working in St James's Hospital in the years of 2020, 2021, 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [8355/23]
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.
632. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist with a special interest in psychiatry of learning disability based in County Kildare in 2022 and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [8356/23]
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.
633. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Health the reason the process for eligibility for the reimbursement of cariban under the drugs payment scheme is different from that for all other medications covered under the scheme, whereby only a consultant can prescribe it for it to be eligible; if he will review the current eligibility requirements with a view to bringing them into line with all other medications covered under the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8364/23]
Amharc ar fhreagra680. Deputy Michael Creed asked the Minister for Health if the medication cariban will be made available to pregnant women for extreme nausea and vomiting; if he will outline the reason for the restricted prescription regime; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8767/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 633 and 680 together.
As part of Budget 2023, funding of €32.2 million was announced for Women’s Health Initiatives in 2023.
This included dedicated funding of €1.3m for Cariban® (doxylamine/pyridoxine) to help women who experience hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of nausea during pregnancy, which is expected to affect about 1% of the pregnant population.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the community drugs schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Good s) Act 2013.
Only licenced indications which have been granted market authorisation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) or the Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) can be added to the formal reimbursement list.
Cariban® is not licensed in Ireland and, therefore, cannot be added to the formal reimbursement list.
However, following the recommendations of the HSE Medicines Management Programme, reimbursement support for Cariban® was made available from 1st January 2023 under an exceptional arrangement for specific patients who meet the criteria and where Consultant Obstetrician initiated. However, women would only need to see a consultant in order to be initiated on the product, and thereafter it can be prescribed by their GP.
The relevant HSE circular regarding this arrangement for Cariban® is available at:
www.hse.ie/eng/staff/pcrs/circulars/pharmacy/pharmacy-circular-001-23-cariban.pdf.
This exceptional arrangement has been put in place to ensure that those patients suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum have access to Cariban®. As of 15th February 2023, 444 women have been approved for the product.
While reimbursement support is offered on the basis of the patient’s eligibility under the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme or the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS), Cariban® is unlicensed and is not on the formal reimbursement list.
There are three other products containing doxylamine/pyridoxine which are licensed in Ireland (Xonvea®, Exeltis® and Navalem®), but the respective market authorisation holders have not progressed with a pricing and reimbursement application to the HSE under the 2013 Act.
The HSE therefore encourages clinicians, along with the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the National Clinical Programme for Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and other healthcare professionals, to encourage the market authorisation holders of these licensed medicinal products to progress with the formal pricing and reimbursement process in Ireland.
Finally, the HSE provides general advice on treatments for hyperemesis gravidarum at:
www2.hse.ie/conditions/hyperemesis-gravidarum/treatment/.
634. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Health the progress made to date with the provision of a proposed ambulance base (details supplied); the reason for the delay in progressing this important and straightforward project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8434/23]
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.
635. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Health if he is familiar with a recent Cochrane study (details supplied) a meta-analysis of seventy-eight studies including over a million people, which has concluded that "face coverings make little to no difference" in Covid infection and fatality rates; whether this will inform his Department's advice in relation to the wearing of face coverings at present; and whether it will inform policy for the outbreaks of future respiratory viruses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8449/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, the Cochrane evidence review published on 30th January 2023 has been reported in some media reports as having identified no evidence that mask wearing makes a difference to COVID-19 transmission. However, it is important to note the principal conclusions of the report were that the quality of evidence was poor, with a high risk of bias in the trials reviewed, variation in outcome measurement and relatively low adherence with the measures studied. The report concluded therefore that this hampers drawing firm conclusions and the true effect may be different from that observed.
The consistent advice of international bodies such as the ECDC and the WHO is that there is a range of evidence, of low to moderate certainty, to indicate that the use of face masks provides a small to moderate protective effect against COVID-19 in the community, both in terms of personal protection as well as source control (protection of others).
The Department of Health, through the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, continues to closely monitor evolving evidence on COVID-19 and provide evidence-based public health advice to the Minister for Health for consideration in relation to ongoing decision-making processes in respect of the pandemic.
Current public health advice, including that in relation to face masks, continues to be informed by World Health Organization (WHO) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) guidance.
The fundamental principles of good respiratory and hand hygiene, physical distancing and mask wearing are still important aspects of protecting ourselves from acquiring COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses. Mask wearing is advised on public transport and in healthcare settings. Mask wearing is also advised based on individual risk assessment.
636. Deputy James Lawless asked the Minister for Health if an issue (details supplied) in relation to appointment to register a marriage will be examined; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8453/23]
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.
637. Deputy Michael McNamara asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the reasons that all surgeries at Ennis Hospital in January 2023 were cancelled; if so, if he will provide those reasons; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8454/23]
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.
638. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 339 and 340 of 19 January 2023, the average length of time a patient waited before leaving an emergency department, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8456/23]
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.
