Written Answers Nos. 577-599
577. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Health the options available to parents with concerns about their children's speech in the absence of a public health nurse providing developmental checks in their area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21393/24]
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.
578. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant dermatologists in each hospital part of Ireland East Hospital Group that are dealing with public-only patients in the years of 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [21397/24]
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.
579. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the locations where the community specialist teams for older persons have yet to be established; and the timeframe for when those teams will be established. [21398/24]
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
580. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant spinal surgeons based at the Mater Hospital in 2023 and to date in 2024, in tabular form. [21399/24]
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.
581. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if he will review the embargo on hiring health care assistants in Killarney Community Hospital, which is due to open in November 2024. [21421/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter for the Health Service Executive, the HSE has been asked to respond directly to the Deputy.
582. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health if any analysis has been conducted by the Government on pharmacy fees per item between 2015 and 2023. [21422/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI recognise the significant role community pharmacists play in the delivery of patient care and acknowledge the potential for this role to be developed further in the context of healthcare service reform.
In that regard, various approaches to extending the scope of practice of community pharmacists are being progressed by my Department. The implementation of these necessitates engagement with a range of stakeholders and full consideration of all the relevant legislative and operational issues involved. The establishment and work of the Expert Taskforce to support the expansion of the role of pharmacists in Ireland is evidence of my commitment to that aim.
The regulations governing the pharmacy fee structure are set out in the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (No. 34 of 2017) and in S.I. No. 639 of 2019, the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 (Payments to Community Pharmacy Contractors) Regulations 2019, which put the current fee structure in place, with effect from 1 January 2020.
Under Section 42(14) of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 the pharmacy fee structure must be reviewed every third year after 2020. My Department has been carrying out a comprehensive review, including an analysis of the fees paid over several years. In addition, there has been ongoing engagement between Department officials and the Irish Pharmacy Union in regard to the potential to extend the scope of practice of community pharmacists and the contract enablers needed to implement that.
I believe that there is a real opportunity to work collaboratively with community pharmacists, and with other healthcare providers, to make a significant difference to patient outcomes. Of course, any publicly funded pharmacy service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs, improve access to existing public health services, and provide better value for money.
583. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE consultant neurologists with a special interest in migraine based at Beaumont Hospital in 2022, 2023 and to-date in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21433/24]
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.
584. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the number of WTE secretaries attached to the consultant paediatric cardiologist at CHI Temple Street in 2023 and to-date in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21434/24]
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.
585. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the number of persons seen in the endometriosis hub at the Rotunda Maternity Hospital in 2023 and to-date in 2024, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21435/24]
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.
586. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the implementation steps being taken in 2024 to deliver the National Stroke Strategy; the additional budget allocated for this in 2024; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21436/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe HSE National Stroke Strategy 2022-2027 aims to modernise and reform stroke services in line with Sláintecare policy and address the challenges facing Ireland from population ageing and the predicted increase in the total number of strokes right across Europe, including Ireland. The strategy provides a blueprint for required investment in stroke services over the five-year period from 2022-2027.
The government is fully committed to supporting improvements and advances in stroke services and has allocated a total of €7.3m to fund the HSE National Stroke Strategy over the last two Budgets which comprises of:
• 2024 Existing Levels of Service (ELS) recurring funding of €3.7m which was allocated for the extension of the GP contract to include primary care-delivered case finding and treatment strategy for Hypertension in over 45-year-olds.
• This was in addition to the €3.6m recurring funding that was allocated in new service developments (NSD) in 2023.
Separately, in 2023, funding was allocated from existing HSE pay budgets for the recruitment of 24.9 to further the implementation of the strategy. To date 12 WTE’s have been recruited.
The funding allocated to the National Stroke Strategy to date has enabled significant new developments such as:
• The expansion of the GP contract to include opportunistic screening of hypertension (a significant risk factor for stroke). This contract is in place and GPs commenced the service in Q1 2024. The HSE estimate that the appropriate management of hypertension through the opportunistic screening of patients in the GP Chronic Disease Management Programme could reduce the number of strokes by 1000 per annum from the predicted incidence over 10 years.
• The recruitment of 12 posts to support acute stroke units, endovascular thrombectomy centres and the expansion of Early Supported Discharge (ESD) teams in the community from 6 to 11 teams (target is 21 ESD teams nationally). The stroke strategy estimates that with the full roll out of 21 ESD teams there will be an estimated >4500 bed days returned to the hospital system and estimated savings of €3.8m.
• Funding also contributed towards funding a stroke research fellowship post and a public awareness campaign to highlight the signs of stroke which we know saves lives and I understand this is on target to launch in Q4 of 2024.
I remain fully committed to making further progress on implementing the stroke strategy and will continue to work with the HSE to ensure its successful implementation to further reduce mortality from stroke, as well as supporting survivors of stroke to live as independently as possible in their communities.
587. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health when the HSE expects the integrated eye care team to be fully established in CHO 5; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21437/24]
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.
588. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Health the status of progress in the progression of advanced optometry care in the community (details supplied); if there has been discussion regarding the fact that medical card scale of fees as optometrists has not been updated in 20 years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21438/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Community Ophthalmic Services Scheme (COSS) is a national fee-per-item scheme which was introduced in 1979. Under the COSS, medical card holders aged over 16 years can be seen by ophthalmologists, community ophthalmic physicians, optometrists or dispensing opticians. Eligible patients can receive an eye examination and be provided with prescribed optical appliances in accordance with a national schedule of approved optical appliances.
The Health Professionals (Reduction of Payments to Ophthalmologists, Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians) Regulations 2013 (SI 274 of 2013) sets the fees for optometrists and dispensing opticians under the Community Optometric Services, Community Spectacle Dispensing Services and Health Amendment Act Card Schemes.
Increasing the fee payable to contractors for a standard eye examination under the COSS (to ensure parity with that payable for the same exam under the Department of Social Protection’s Treatment Benefit Scheme) is a priority for my Department, and work with stakeholders is ongoing in this regard.
The Department has also been meeting with Optometry Ireland to discuss the contribution that optometrists provide to our healthcare service and how this contribution could be further expanded.
I believe that there is a real opportunity to work collaboratively with community optometrists, and with other healthcare providers, to make a significant difference to patient outcomes. Of course, any publicly funded ophthalmic service expansion should address unmet public healthcare needs and improve access to public health services while ensuring value for money.
589. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health if he will consider placing a youth mental health service for young people in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21459/24]
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.
590. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health if he will end the recruitment embargo at University Hospital Limerick to ensure safe staffing measures are implemented; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21463/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter for the Health Service Executive, the HSE has been asked to respond directly to the Deputy.
591. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for Health to respond to correspondence (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21475/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraCurrently, all newborn babies (between 3 and 5 days old) are offered newborn bloodspot screening (generally known as the ‘heel prick’) for rare but serious conditions that are treatable if detected early in life.
The expansion of the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening (NBS) Programme continues to remain a key objective of mine as Minister for Health, and I am pleased to note that the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) has been actively progressing work in this regard.
NSAC is an independent expert group that considers and assesses evidence in a robust and transparent manner, and against internationally accepted criteria. It is important that we have rigorous processes in place to ensure our screening programmes are effective, quality assured, validated and operating to safe standards, and that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.
Significant progress continues to be made on the expansion of the NBS Programme under this Government. As the Deputy will be aware, in November 2023, I endorsed the recommendation from NSAC on the addition and Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) to the NBS programme. This will bring the number of conditions screened for in Ireland to 11, once the implemented, representing a 37% increase over the lifetime of this Government.
In February of this year, I was pleased to allocate €1.4m of new development funding in 2024 to support the expansion of the NBS programme. This funding will allow for the rollout of testing for both SCID and SMA and represents a significant funding increase in a single year. The announcement further demonstrates my ongoing commitment to reducing the impact of these rare but serious diseases in children and infants. This investment will be crucial to providing additional funds for new equipment, staff recruitment, validation, quality assurance and training to facilitate addition of new conditions to NBS programme.
I can confirm that work commenced at the start of this year, with ongoing collaboration between officials in my Department and the HSE National Children’s Screening Programme on implementing an ambitious timeline for the introduction of screening for SMA and SCID.
In terms of further expansion of our newborn screening programmes, Ireland has always evaluated the case for commencing a national screening programme against international accepted criteria – collectively known as the Wilson Jungner criteria. The evidence bar for commencing a screening programme should and must remain high. This ensures that we can be confident that the programme is effective, quality assured and operating to safe standards. There is no doubt that newborn screening programmes have the potential to be rapidly transformed by new technologies and new therapies but this highlights the need to continue with a robust, methodologically sound and detailed analysis of the evidence in each and every case against internationally accepted screening criteria.
The expansion of newborn bloodspot screening is being continually reviewed across Europe where the number of conditions screened for varies significantly. For example, the UK currently screens for a similar number of conditions as Ireland. However, as noted by HIQA in their 2021 ‘Review of processes in use to inform the expansion of newborn bloodspot Screening programmes’, international comparisons of the range of conditions screened is likely to reflect complex decision-making processes and local inputs. These may include differing opinions with respect to assessment of conditions against criteria, differences in practice with respect to organisational structure and laboratory implementation, differing levels of tolerance for false positives and false negatives and differing local epidemiology with respect to condition prevalence and the genetic composition of the local population.
Nevertheless, I am acutely aware of how difficult it is for parents, families and children who have received a diagnosis of a rare disease, and how challenging daily life can be for them. This is why I remain committed to the further expansion of screening in Ireland in accordance with internationally accepted criteria and best practice.
592. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he has signed off on a WRC deal to increase the pay of care assistant workers in section 38 and section 39 organisations; if he will outline the terms of that deal and the progress made in issuing payments; whether further discussions regard a claim for parity with those directly employed is progressing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21479/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Department is not aware of a S38 Care Assistant case in the WRC.
Following many months of extensive negotiations in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), an agreement was reached in October 2023 which saw an increase in funding for pay of staff in Section 39 organisations. An overall increase of 8% was agreed phased with an initial increase of 3% backdated to April 2023, a 2% increase from 1 November 2023 and a further increase to be implemented on 1 March 2024.
The HSE has already made significant payments on account to qualifying organisations to begin to address the amounts due to staff under the Section 39 Employee WRC agreement. In recent weeks the HSE has issued templates to over 1,130 Section 39 funded organisations to allow them to claim the full amounts of funding due to their employees. To date, 165 organisations have replied and these are now being processed.
The HSE has also written again to all Section 39 funded organisations requesting that they submit their claims without delay and offering support to organisations who have queries in relation to the process.
The objective of the HSE is to make all due payments without delay so that employees can access their entitlements under the WRC agreement.
While Government has engaged in this process and an agreement has been reached, it is worth noting that Section 39 organisations are not public bodies, and the terms and conditions of employment for staff in these organisations are ultimately between the employer and the employee. Although we are not the employers, the Department is aware that staff employed across the hundreds of funded organisations have been employed using a multiplicity of terms and conditions, including different rates of remuneration and are dependent on Government for funding.
593. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Minister for Health to review a matter (details supplied); if he will provide an update on this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21481/24]
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.
594. Deputy James O'Connor asked the Minister for Health his plans to reverse the decision to cease funding of Dexcom g7 sensors for use by diabetics on insulin injections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21497/24]
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.
595. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health further to the failure of the HSE to answer Parliamentary Question No. 641 of 16 April 2024, and the subsequent failure of the HSE to answer Parliamentary Question No. 290 of 2 May 2024, if he will specify, in tabular form, the new MRI scanners that have been provided in each relevant Irish hospital since 1 January 2019; the cost associated with the provision of each; the instances therein when it was the first MRI scanner provided in a hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21506/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra596. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health further to the failure of the HSE to answer Parliamentary Question No. 642 of 16 April 2024, and the subsequent failure of the HSE to answer Parliamentary Question No. 291 of 2 May 2024, if he will specify, in tabular form, the new CT scanners that have been provided in each relevant Irish hospital since 1 January 2019; the cost associated with the provision of each; the instances therein when it was the first CT scanner provided in a hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21507/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra597. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health if he will direct the HSE to conduct a feasibility study relating to the provision of a CT scanner at Monaghan Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21508/24]
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.
598. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Health if he will direct the HSE to conduct a feasibility study relating to the provision of an MRI scanner at Monaghan Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21509/24]
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.
599. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health the status of a physiotherapy appointment for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21521/24]
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.
