Results 14,421-14,440 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cancer Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge that the current situation for cancer services and the location of those at University Hospital Kerry is not sustainable and is not what anybody wants to see. I visited the hospital just last month and discussed this with the senior management in the hospital. The priority is that every patient in Kerry receives the best possible care in the right environment. The solution to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cancer Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We need to get this sorted as quickly as possible. The new unit is going to make a big difference. It will have 14-day treatment cubicles, two treatment isolation rooms and seven outpatient consultation rooms, so it is going to make a big difference in terms of the experience that patients have and, indeed, that clinicians have in providing what is world-class oncology treatment to...

Ceisteanna - Questions: Cancer Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We are looking at modular builds. My view is that the capital process is not working; the capital process is broken. There are internal processes within the HSE and processes between the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. There are far too many layers and far too many people who can say “No” who need...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We have some pretty clear ideas as to why not only Waterford Hospital, but also the hospitals in Portlaoise, Tullamore and others are doing better. Some of it comes down to rostering patterns, some of it to patient flow and advance triage in the emergency department, block booking of private beds and nursing home beds for discharge, strong leadership on patient flow through the hospitals and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: That is exactly what we are focusing on. It is incumbent on the Members of the Oireachtas to keep the focus on both. I fully accept the position of clinicians who say they need more capacity. They do. As the Deputy will be aware, we have added more community and hospital capacity than at any time since the foundation of the HSE and we will continue to do that. At the same time, we must...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. There have been changes in the Department of Health. Broadly they have been positive. The Department is in a much better position now than it was when I was appointed to office. There is a strong culture of decision making, more openness and more stakeholder engagement. For example, we saw that in respect of the Bill that passed Committee Stage in...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I imagine the figure of 24% relates partly to secondments and other issues connected to the fact that the Department scaled up for Covid-19 and then scaled back down again. There have been movements. Some are due to retirement and some people are moving on to other Departments, which is normal. I repeat that the Department of Health is in a much stronger position than it was two and a half...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The figures I have show that the churn in the Department of Health is similar to other Departments. I am not concerned about the numbers who have left. Strong teams have been put in place. There is something for us all to reflect on. As the Deputy will be aware from her time as a Minister of State at the Department, those who work in the Department of Health are on the receiving end of...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I simply do not accept the premise. The Deputy states that there is a significant issue in the Department of Health and I am telling her straight that there is not. The Department of Health is in a much more robust and healthy place than it was two and a half years ago.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Am I concerned about it? I am not

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I have addressed the numbers several times now.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Staff (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I am telling the Deputy that according to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, the figures in the Department of Health are matched in other Departments. If what the Deputy is saying is true, it is true across the Civil Service. As I said, I have no doubt some of it is down to people who were on secondment because of Covid-19 and have left....

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: It was a year ago and I was not satisfied with the pace of the process, which is why I intervened and for a move to a self-assessment model. However, while we all would have liked the payment to have gone out to everybody quicker than it did, I have no doubt that if the HSE had moved off its own bat, at a pace where there would have been significant errors made, there would have been double...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The advice I have from the HSE and the Department is that for the 22% of private sector organisations that have submitted their applications, those payments will be made in the next few weeks. It is inevitable that we will be discussing individuals here or there or a particular contracting company within a particular hospital where a payment has been delayed. These payments should not be...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: This question goes to the heart of our priorities in healthcare. The goal is universal healthcare, which means affordable, accessible and high-quality care. A lot of good progress has been made in patient outcomes and clinical strategies being rolled out, including in women's healthcare, and there have been other positive initiatives. A lot of progress is being made on affordability as...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I am not satisfied, nor are any of us, with either the number of people waiting on trolleys or the amount of time people are waiting. There are two parts to how we will solve this. First, we need extra capacity, including more emergency medicine, consultants, nurses, healthcare assistants, beds in hospitals, home care packages and preventative measures. A lot of work is going on there and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: It has been a long-standing principle that people receiving residential care would contribute to the cost through a charge or contribution, based on their means, if any. As we are aware, inpatient long-stay charges which were levied up to 2004 under regulations from 1954 and 1976 were deemed to not have a legal basis. A repayment scheme was established in 2006 and the scope of the scheme,...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We should all be slightly wary of the estimate. It seems that estimates associated with many of these issues were very high relative to the reality. For example, a €5 billion estimate was put on the repayment scheme and it ended up being less than 10% of that. It would seem that very high estimates were put against many of these issues over time. The issue at hand essentially is...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Disability Services (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Department is looking at exactly those issues. As I said, it will come down to a case-by-case basis. The advice I have is that it would not be applied as broadly as the scheme for nursing homes which were broadly defined as inpatient services. The question really is in what individual institutions, and in what individual cases, were they deemed to be household charges rather than...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic Supports (16 Feb 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: To recognise their role during the pandemic, the Government announced that a recognition payment of €1,000 tax-free would be made to all eligible staff. I am very happy to inform the House that over 188,000 staff have been paid. This measure compares favourably internationally. For example, in Northern Ireland it is £500 versus €1,000 in the Republic. In the public...