Written Answers Nos. 494-521
494. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients who and percentage who were waiting 0-6 hours, 0-9 hours, 9-24 hours, and 24+ hours for admission to an emergency department for each quarter of each year 2019-2024, inclusive, Statewide and by location; and the number and percentage for all patients and patients aged over 75, in tabular form. [39651/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly.
495. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients who left an emergency department without being seen for each quarter of each year 2019-2024, inclusive, by hospital, in tabular form. [39652/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly.
496. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of hospital-initiated scheduled care cancellations, by appointment type, for each quarter of each year 2022-2024, inclusive, by hospital group and hospital, in tabular form. [39653/24]
View answerI fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when hospital appointments and procedures are cancelled.
While every effort is made to avoid cancellations or postponements, they can happen for a variety of reasons, including capacity issues due to increased scheduled and unscheduled care demand, and unforeseen circumstances that may impact a service.
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 follow HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.
Cancelled hospital appointments and procedures are, where appropriate, rescheduled as early as possible with priority given to patients requiring time-sensitive and urgent treatment.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
497. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of cancer-related appointments and procedures which were cancelled for each quarter for each year 2022-2024, inclusive, by hospital, for adults and for children, in tabular form. [39654/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
498. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of delayed transfers of care for each quarter at each location, for each of the years 2019 to 2024, inclusive, in tabular form; the number of delayed discharges and the number as a percentage of all discharges; the number of bed days lost; and the number as a percentage of all bed days available for the period. [39655/24]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
499. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the bed-occupancy rates of each public and public voluntary hospital, by hospital group, for each quarter for each of the years 2019 to 2024, inclusive, in tabular form; the national average; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39656/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
500. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of days that full capacity protocols have been active for each model 3 and model 4 hospital, for each quarter for each of the years 2019 to 2024 to date, inclusive, in tabular form. [39657/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly.
501. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of assaults recorded against patients at HSE facilities for each quarter for each of the years 2019 to 2024, inclusive, in tabular form. [39658/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
502. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of assaults recorded against staff at HSE facilities for each quarter for each of the years 2019 to 2024, inclusive, in tabular form. [39659/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
503. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the percentage of clinical status 1 ECHO and clinical status 1 DELTA incidents responded to by a patient-carrying vehicle in 18 minutes and 59 seconds or less for each quarter for each year 2019-2024, inclusive, nationally and by ambulance region; the average length of such response times nationally and by region, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39660/24]
View answer504. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number and percentage of incidents responded to by the ambulance service by clinical status and sub status for each quarter for each year 2019-2024, inclusive. [39661/24]
View answer505. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the average ambulance turnaround time at each emergency department for each quarter in 2023 and 2024, inclusive, in tabular form. [39662/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 503 to 505, inclusive, together.
As these are service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive (HSE) to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
506. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of patients on primary care and community healthcare waiting lists, for each care service, for each quarter of each year 2019, 2023, and 2024; the breakdown, by length of wait and by age, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39663/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
507. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of people on CAMHS waiting lists, by CHO and length of wait, at the end of each quarter of each year 2019-2024, in tabular form. [39672/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.
508. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of people on waiting lists for Jigsaw, by CHO and length of wait, at the end of each quarter of each year 2019-2024, in tabular form. [39673/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.
509. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of persons on diagnostic waiting lists at the end of each quarter of 2022-2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39674/24]
View answerThe HSE advises that a pilot project commenced in 2016 by the HSE Acute Hospitals Division to progress the collection of national radiology waiting list data. The project has been supported by the Radiology Clinical Care Programme and has involved key stakeholders across the system including the National Integrated Medical Imaging System (NIMIS) Team, Hospital Groups, and the support of the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) for data collection and data management expertise.
In 2022, in line with actions in the 2022 Waiting List Action Plan (WLAP), the Department of Health issued formal approval to the NTPF to commence work on the development and delivery of a National Radiology Diagnostic Protocol. In October 2024, the NTPF formally launched the first National Radiology Diagnostic Waiting List Management Protocol for the administrative management of patients on radiology diagnostic waiting lists in Irish public hospitals.
As well as ensuring that patients seeking access to Radiology Diagnostic services are administratively managed in a safe, timely, fair, and equitable manner whilst waiting, by standardising the management of patients, the protocol will facilitate improved data collection and reporting about patients on Radiology Diagnostic waiting lists.
In the interim, the information that is currently being collected is presently being tested and validated at hospital, hospital group and national level and as such should not be used/reported without the context of the caveats set out below:
• Data is subject to inclusions and exclusions which are documented in the Data Profile Document. This document is available from Acute Operations and has been circulated to all Hospital Groups.
• Data contains urgent, routine and surveillance/planned activity which is currently not broken down in detail, as such this includes surveillance/planned activity which may not be exceeding planned date.
• Data is still undergoing validation at Hospital and Hospital Group level. Data does not take into account local nuances at site level (Site profile developed to support understanding of same).
• The purpose of this aggregate data is to provide a National Level overview of the number of patients waiting for modalities of CT, MRI and Ultrasound.
• This report is not intended to be used for the active management of hospital diagnostics waiting list, local reports and mechanisms should continue to be used for the management of diagnostics waiting lists at hospital level.
The NTPF provides my Department with Quarterly reports which set out waiting list data for CT, MRI and Ultrasound. The HSE advises that, at present, further diagnostic scans (including cholangiopancreatography, electroencephalogram, angiogram, electrocardiogram and bone scan), are not yet captured as part of this project.
I have provided the Deputy with reports for each quarter in 2022, 2023 and quarter 1 2024 in response to previous Parliamentary Questions. The most recent report available for Quarter 2 2024 is attached.
At the end of Quarter 2 2024, there was a total of 281,877 patients reported on the waiting list from all sites, this represents all outpatients waiting, urgent, semi urgent, routine and planned/surveillance (where diagnostic access is planned at particular time intervals).
510. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of dentists on the dental treatment services scheme at the end of each quarter for each year 2019-2024, by LHO; the number of dentists who submitted claims and the total number of claims in quarter 1 of each year and each full year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39675/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
511. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of adults and children on HSE dental and orthodontic waiting lists at the end of each quarter for each year 2019-2024, broken down by standard waiting times, by area, in tabular form. [39676/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
512. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the number of publicly employed dentists, orthodontists, dental surgeons, dental nurses, and other dental/orthodontic staff by staff grade employed by the public services for each year 2017-2022, to date, by LHO/CHO/region, in tabular form. [39677/24]
View answer513. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of people who were assessed, by addiction rehabilitation, detox and stabilisation facilities in 2023 and to-date in 2024, in tabular form. [39695/24]
View answerAs this refers to a service matter, I have sent this PQ to the HSE for direct response. As the Deputy may be aware, management and administrative grade staff in the Fórsa union in the HSE commenced industrial action on Friday 6th October 2023. As a consequence of this industrial action, members in these grades are not engaging with political forums or processes. As a result, the question asked by the Deputy may be delayed in receiving a response directly from the HSE.
514. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of persons with spina bifida waiting for surgery on 30 September 2022 and 30 September 2024, in tabular form. [39696/24]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
515. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE staff, by job title, working in each of the regional fertility hubs, in tabular form. [39697/24]
View answerAs the Deputy’s question refers to a service matter I have referred the question to the HSE for direct reply to the Deputy.
516. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the schools in the CHO7 area that have received and completed, or not received and completed, the public eye care school screening service, in tabular form. [39698/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
517. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the HSE spend on recruitment agencies for recruitment functions for each quarter for each year 2019-2024 to date, in tabular form; the campaigns to which the expenditure relates; the agencies to which payments were made. [39717/24]
View answerThis PQ has been referred to the HSE to respond.
518. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the HSE spend on agency staffing for each quarter for each year 2019-2024 to date, in tabular form; the services to which the expenditure relates; and the agencies to which payments were made. [39718/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
519. Deputy Gino Kenny asked the Minister for Health when a decision will be made by the HSE on the reimbursement of fenfluramine (fintepla) for the treatment of refractory epilepsy (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39728/24]
View answerUnder the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013, the HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines; therefore, the matter has been referred to the HSE for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
520. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Minister for Health if the HSE provides any funding to a local service (details supplied) currently or has provided funding at any time in the past; if not, if the HSE be willing to enter into a service level agreement with the service to provide funding towards a manager and to assist in the day-to-day running of this vital local service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39735/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly as soon as possible.
521. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Health the status of the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39736/24]
View answerI fully acknowledge the distress and inconvenience for patients and their families when hospital appointments and procedures are cancelled.
While every effort is made to avoid cancellations or postponements, they can happen for a variety of reasons, including capacity issues due to increased scheduled and unscheduled care demand, and unforeseen circumstances that may impact a service.
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 follow HSE clinical guidelines and protocols.
Cancelled hospital appointments and procedures are, where appropriate, rescheduled as early as possible with priority given to patients requiring time-sensitive and urgent treatment.
Under 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.
