Written Answers Nos. 239-255
239. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total costs associated with the cyber attack on the health service in recent years; and the quantity and nature of material which was compromised or leaked during the attack. [41835/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
240. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of hospital appointments cancelled in the past five years in each hospital nationwide, in tabular form. [41836/24]
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.
241. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of incidents reported to the National Incident Management System, by each hospital nationwide, over the past decade, in tabular form. [41837/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
242. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of incidents reported to the National Incident Management System in each of the past ten years which resulted in death, suffering, long-term incapacity or injury, in tabular form. [41838/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
243. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of cyber security staff recruited by the HSE in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. [41839/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
244. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health if the HSE or individual hospitals have engaged private companies for the purpose of debt collection from patients or former patients who have failed to pay their hospital bills; if so, the number of companies that have been engaged; the cost of the contracts; and the name of the companies. [41840/24]
View answerThis PQ has been referred to the HSE for response.
245. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total number of persons diagnosed with cancer in the State, in each of the past ten years, in tabular form. [41841/24]
View answerThe National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI) has a statutory obligation to collate information in relation to national cancer incidence across all tumour types. This information will typically only be made available two to three years after the year of incidence, in keeping with international standards.
The most up to date data available from the NCRI on the total number of persons diagnosed with an invasive cancer (excluding non melanoma skin cancers) in the State for the years 2012 to 2021 is available in the table below.
|
Year |
All invasive cancers (excl nmsc) (C00-C43, C45-C96) |
|
2012 |
20,733 |
|
2013 |
21,105 |
|
2014 |
21,545 |
|
2015 |
21,992 |
|
2016 |
22,677 |
|
2017 |
23,258 |
|
2018 |
24,230 |
|
2019 |
25,082 |
|
2020 |
22,859 |
|
2021 |
25,331 |
246. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who left emergency departments around the country without being seen in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024, by hospital, in tabular form. [41842/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly.
247. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the average length of time people spent waiting to be seen in each emergency department in the country in 2023, in tabular form. [41843/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to the deputy directly.
248. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the average ambulance response time in each county in the State in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. [41844/24]
View answer249. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of persons who were dead by the time an ambulance arrived in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. [41845/24]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 248 and 249 together.
As these are service matters, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
250. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total costs associated with the Covid vaccine passports in the past five years. [41846/24]
View answerThis PQ has been referred to the HSE for response.
251. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total cost incurred in relation to the set-up and maintenance of the Covid tracker app in each of the past five years. [41847/24]
View answerThe cost of the Covid Tracker app was approximately €800,000 with ongoing support and development costs thereafter of approximately €20k per month, hosting costs of approximately €20k per month plus costs associated with monitoring the security of the app and app environment of approximately €13k per quarter.
This compared favourably with international experience with, for example, an estimated cost of €20m for the German Covid tracker app, as reported by the media at the time.
Ireland received €1.15m in funding from the EU to support digital responses to the pandemic, including the tracker app and digital Covid certificates.
Covid tracker apps are significantly complex using advanced engineering and Bluetooth technology to estimate distances from others with mobile phones. As well as the app keeping people informed about the spread of the disease, the number of positive cases and deaths recorded (by area) and the number of vaccinations administered, the app was also subsequently upgraded to act as a digital wallet to store digital Covid certificates on their phone.
No further costs have been incurred since the app was decommissioned in 2023.
252. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the number of cases taken against the State regarding the deaths of individuals from Covid-19 in hospitals or nursing homes. [41848/24]
View answerThe State Claims Agency (SCA) has a statutory remit to manage personal injury claims on behalf of State Authorities including the Health Service Executive.
The SCA has informed me that it has received 73 wrongful death claims, in respect of COVID-19, recorded across hospitals, nursing homes, HSE locations including community healthcare locations, COVID-19 vaccine programme locations and HIQA.
The SCA has informed me that this information was extracted from the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and is correct as at the 11/10/2024.
Definitions:
National Incident Management System (NIMS): National Incident Management System (NIMS): Incidents (which include claims) are reported using the “National Incident Management System”, hosted by the State Claims Agency (SCA). An incident can be a harmful Incident (Adverse Event), no harm incident, near miss, dangerous occurrence (reportable circumstance) or complaint. NIMS is the system used by the delegated authorities to fulfil their statutory requirement to report incidents to the State Claims Agency and for their own incident and risk management purposes.
Claim: A claim refers to notification of intention to seek compensation for personal injury and/or property damage where it is alleged the State was negligent. The application may be in the form of a letter of claim, an InjuriesBoard.ie application, or a written/oral request.
253. Deputy John Brady asked the Minister for Health the progress of the HPV vaccination catch-up programme extension review; to provide a timeline by which a decision will be reached; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41865/24]
View answerThe Laura Brennan HPV Vaccination Catch-Up Programme commenced on 8 December 2022 with the opening of the HSE’s online registration portal for the programme.
In 2023, the Laura Brennan HPV Vaccination Catch-Up Programme offered free HPV vaccines to:
• females who are 24 years of age or younger
• males who are 21 years of age or younger
I can confirm that the HSE and my Department continue to work together to review available options in relation to provision of HPV immunisation in the future.
With the aim of moving towards cervical cancer elimination in the coming years, it will be important to focus on increasing vaccination uptake rates in the routine HPV vaccination programme. As you will be aware the ages at which vaccines are recommended in the immunisation schedule are chosen by the National Immunisation Advisory Committee (NIAC) in order to give each child the best possible protection against vaccine preventable diseases.
As the HPV vaccine is preventative, it is intended to be administered, if possible, before a person becomes exposed to HPV infection. Therefore, the gender-neutral HPV vaccination programme targets all girls and boys in first year of secondary school to provide maximum coverage and protection. It is vital that, moving forward, the importance of receiving HPV vaccination when it is offered through the routine HPV vaccination programme is communicated effectively to the population and that there is no confusion over the optimum time to receive the vaccine.
254. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the total number of cases taken against the HSE over the alleged abortions resulting from misdiagnosis of unborn children, since the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 came into existence; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41870/24]
View answerAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
255. Deputy Pa Daly asked the Minister for Health his plans to provide extra beds to Ospidéal Pobail Corca Dhuibhne; and when he anticipates doing so. [41879/24]
View answerAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
