Results 22,421-22,440 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The clinical advice I have received from Professor Turner and others is that it should be signed off by an obstetrician. It would be difficult if we required a signing off by two obstetricians in every case because we have some very small hospitals where there are only two or three obstetricians. The machine in question was not old. The lifespan of these machines is seven years and the one...

Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: No, the point I am making is that it was not a machine that had passed its sell-by date. It was within the seven-year timeframe.

Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: Yes, but the scan was not outside the seven-year timeframe but within it.

Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: We need to put forward a recommendation of clinical examination.

Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: When we seek to do things in the interest of patient safety, such as the cancer programme, the Deputy opposes us. He cannot have it every way

Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The person who will roll out the protocol will be Professor Turner who is the lead clinician in this area. He is the appropriate person to deal with the college of obstetrics and gynaecology which has the national expertise and will be centrally involved. Written answers follow Adjournment Debate.

Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 43, 46 and 52 together. Service delivery is about access to appropriate care for patients, not the number of beds in the hospital system or the number of consultants employed. The focus of the health service must be on the quality of service outputs and the patient outcomes being achieved for the resources available. This approach mirrors that being taken in...

Written Answers — Dental Treatment Services Scheme: Dental Treatment Services Scheme (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44, 172 and 189 together. The Government's decision in Budget 2010 to limit the funding available to the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) was made in view of the current position of the public finances and the 60% increase in expenditure in the DTSS over the past five years. The Health Service Executive (HSE) has introduced measures to contain DTSS...

Written Answers — Clinical Indemnity Scheme: Clinical Indemnity Scheme (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I and my officials held a number of meetings with senior health officials and with the Minister for Health during my recent visit to New Zealand. In the course of those meetings we discussed the role of the Accident Compensation Corporation and the general no fault compensation scheme that operates there. As the Deputy may be aware, an advisory group was established in 2001, to examine the...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: It is critical that learning takes place from all patient safety incidents. My Department has been working very closely with the Directorate for Quality and Clinical Care in the HSE to ensure that this happens. It is not and has never been necessary for all x-rays in all hospitals to be reported by a consultant radiologist. However, arising from the recent events in Tallaght Hospital, the...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 49, 60 and 117 together. Reports from the Health Service Executive (HSE) indicate reductions in applications for Non-Consultant Hospital Doctor posts, particularly in emergency medicine, anaesthesia, general medicine and in smaller hospitals. As at 16 June, the HSE reports that there were about 289 outstanding vacancies projected for 1 July, in Senior House...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The Government has made it clear that a critical part of its strategy to restore the public finances is to achieve sustainability in the cost of delivering public services relative to State revenues. To help achieve this goal, it will be necessary to restructure and reorganise the public service and to reduce public service numbers over the coming years. The Employment Control Framework for...

Written Answers — Accident and Emergency Services: Accident and Emergency Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: My Department understands from the HSE that it is not limiting emergency department opening hours, at present, as a result of health service cutbacks. The focus for 2010 is to continue to provide for emergency and elective admissions in hospitals by a continued shift to day case treatments and the development of a number of initiatives such as Medical Assessment Units and their use for...

Written Answers — Health Insurance: Health Insurance (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: International evidence is that people's best health can be achieved much more cost-effectively by a greater emphasis on primary care services, in order to avoid hospitalisation or prolonged stays in hospital. Health insurance has its role to play in this in Ireland. On 27 May 2010, the Government announced a new strategy for the private health insurance market. As part of the package of...

Written Answers — Prison Medical Service: Prison Medical Service (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The Irish Prison Service is responsible, in the first instance, for the provision of health and associated regime services within the prison system. At each prison level, healthcare delivery is managed by the prison doctor, nurse manager and visiting healthcare professionals. There is however a high degree of co-operation between the Irish Prison Service and the HSE at national and local...

Written Answers — Misuse of Drugs: Misuse of Drugs (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 85 together. I completely reject the suggestion that the Government's handling of the issue of so-called "legal highs" has been inadequate. I would remind the House that in light of the health risks associated with these products the Government made an Order on 11 May declaring a large number of substances, commonly referred to as "legal highs", to be...

Written Answers — Health Insurance: Health Insurance (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 61 and 90 together. A key element of the Government's strategy for the future of the private health insurance market, is to establish VHI Healthcare in a position where it is authorised by the Financial Regulator and therefore regulated for prudential solvency purposes on the same basis as its competitors. The Government has committed to making a substantial...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I launched the report of the Cardiovascular Policy Group on 10 June. The full report is available on the Department's website. The policy report addresses the spectrum of cardiovascular disease, including prevention and management and how these should be integrated to reduce the burden of these conditions. Prevention includes measures that individuals can take themselves as well as...

Written Answers — Health Service Executive: Health Service Executive (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I propose to takes Questions Nos. 63, 238 and 239 together. I am informed by the Health Service Executive that Mr. Cathal McGee will take up his appointment as Chief Executive Officer on 1st September 2010, to succeed Professor Brendan Drumm, whose term of office ends in mid-August. In accordance with Section 17 of the Health Act 2004, the HSE Board is responsible for making this...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (22 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: My Department understands from the Health Service Executive that the review team expects to conclude its work by mid-July. I welcome the completion at the end of April this year of the process of reading and reporting on x-rays that were previously not read by consultant radiologists at Tallaght Hospital and also the management of GP referral letters at the hospital and the fact no further...