Results 20,921-20,940 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Hospital Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I thought the Deputy referred to six days. Perhaps it was three days.

Hospital Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I have a lovely graph which I will send across to the Deputy. I do not want to hold it up in the Chamber and be accused of using a banner. The graph shows performance in 2005 as against now. By any yardstick, there have been considerable improvements. While I am by no means saying the situation is ideal, there have been steady improvements. I genuinely believe the clinical directorate...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 4 together. The HSE National Service Plan 2010, which I approved on 5 February, commits the HSE to delivering activity levels for 2010 which are broadly in line with 2009 levels. The plan was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas on 8 February and has been published on the HSE's website. During 2010, the HSE will provide me with monthly...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: A later reply to a question dealing with the industrial relations environment may deal with some of the issues raised by the Deputy. As regards the Deputy's request to brief her party on the fair deal scheme, I am happy to do so. I would be happy to provide same for the Fine Gael party. On fair deal, a completely new legal system has been introduced. In many cases we are dealing with...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: The Deputy will be aware that the manner in which hospitals and clinicians are now assessed is across performance indicators. The key performance indicators are available on a monthly basis and make for very interesting reading. There is a huge variation, even in emergency departments, between the number of patients seen per medic or nurse in one part of the country as compared with another...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: Yes. What is important is that the patient is treated. If it is appropriate for treatment to be provided on a non-hospital basis in a primary care setting, day case basis, same day surgery and so on, that is where it should be given. The issue for surgeons, which is being addressed by Dr. White, is the ringfencing of beds. Many surgeons say that they do bring in their patients in advance...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: Yes. We are providing additional beds. I am in dispute with some of the Deputies from Kerry because we are providing more rehab beds as opposed to long-stay facilities, such as those in Tralee. That is because that is the requirement and that is what is advised.

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I am concerned with patients everywhere. As regards the issue of treating patients in hospital, many people end up in accident and emergency departments who do not require such treatment. When the Deputy and I were growing up in this city, an emergency department was for a genuine emergency. Unfortunately, because of some of the issues he has raised, people have ended up in accident and...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: In some cases it was the only way of accessing those diagnostics. I accept what Deputy Jan O'Sullivan says about having people in unsuitable facilities, particularly in some of the older A&E units that have poor facilities. That is why we strongly support the escalation policies, as the A&E consultants do. I have been reading about great hospitals all over the world, including Stony Brook...

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I want to give the Deputy the evidence, which she should examine. I know she is a person who genuinely looks at the facts.

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: The A&E consultants themselves support it and I know this is on the agenda of the A&E forum. We thought we were close to agreement there, but there are still outstanding issues. The Deputy's own A&E consultant, Dr. O'Donnell in Limerick, who is regarded as one of the best - he is a terrific doctor with great leadership skills - has been a strong advocate of this policy for quite some time....

Health Services. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: Yes, it is better and safer.

Health Staff Work to Rule. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: The industrial action which is underway across the public service has the potential to cause serious disruption in the health sector depending on its scope and scale. My main concern is to ensure that the effect of the dispute on patient care is minimised as much as possible and, so far, this has been achieved. The HSE and my Department are monitoring the evolving situation daily in close...

Health Staff Work to Rule. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I acknowledge that where issues arose that may have directly affected patient care, responsible action was taken by unions at local level. For example, there was an issue concerning radiotherapy in Cork and I acknowledge that was resolved without patients being affected. I salute that. Clearly, however, everyone who works in the health service has an impact on patient services, including...

Health Staff Work to Rule. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I accept the Deputy's positive comments in his response to that matter. While the Deputy may say pay is not the issue, at the heart of the dispute is the reduction in public sector pay. I would hope that we can return to the reform agenda with the public sector unions. We have had very responsible engagement with them in the past and I have no doubt that the people who work in the health...

Health Staff Work to Rule. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: In fairness with regard to a plan, it is not possible to have a big strategy and decide this is how we will do it. We need to deal with the individuals at a local level in the main.

Health Staff Work to Rule. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: We are doing that. There is a plan. It is reviewed every day. The Department of Finance is the co-ordinating Department. In the health area not a day goes by without the official in my Department who is dedicated to the matter being involved with the HSE at a central and local level regarding the different issues that arise.

Hospital Staff. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I met representatives of the support group, Dignity 4 Patients, on 29 October 2009 to inform them of my decision, in consultation with the Cabinet and the Attorney General, to establish an independent review chaired by the retired High Court judge, Mr. Justice T.C. Smyth, to examine whether a further investigation into the case of Mr. Shine would be of public benefit. Mr. Justice Smyth...

Hospital Staff. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: With regard to the last point made by the Deputy, it is a serious process, and I believe that is accepted. I do not believe somebody of the stature of Mr. Justice Smyth would engage in a process that was not serious. I will give consideration to the deadline of 3 March. I do not know whether we set it or Mr. Justice Smyth did, but I shall have that examined. Dignity 4 Patients has asked...

Hospital Staff. (11 Feb 2010)

Mary Harney: I do not disagree with that. When the hospital was acquired by the State in the mid-1990s for €5.5 million, I believe, a sum of €2 million was set aside for possible claims, including in this area. That is being administered on behalf of the Medical Missionaries of May by Arthur Cox, solicitors. To date no claim has been made on that €2 million, so I am conscious that this resource...