Results 22,421-22,440 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: There are 760,394 patients on acute hospital inpatient day case, outpatient and gastrointestinal scope waiting lists, as published by the NTPF. I recognise that a higher figure of more than 900,000 is regularly used and it is important to note that this figure includes just under 150,000 patients who already have scheduled care. The NTPF figure we should be most concerned with is the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The waiting times for children with scoliosis are not acceptable and they have to be brought down. One of the first places I went when I was appointed as Minister was Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin and I met the orthopaedics team there for exactly this reason. Good efforts have been made and an additional consultant is in place. Things have been greatly exacerbated by Covid, as...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I share the Deputy's concern. I had a long call last week with a parent of one kid with serious complications. What the children are going through is unimaginable, as is what the parents are going through as a result. I have told the parents that we will sort this out. We are working directly with CHI to understand exactly what the bottlenecks are. Some of this can be solved through...

Seanad: Sláintecare Implementation: Statements (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Members for the opportunity to meet with them this evening. We are here to discuss what I believe is one of the most important projects of our time, which is to make universal healthcare a reality in our country and to have a public healthcare system that provides girls and boys, women and men, with great healthcare when they need it. We allocate a great deal of money to healthcare....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, emergency department attendances have reached 2019 levels and exceeded them in some places. In 2019, 1.34 million people attended emergency departments and approximately 350,000 of them were admitted. I acknowledge the work of our front-line staff in keeping the emergency departments open throughout the pandemic. Our figures for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with the Deputy's comments on out-of-hours GP services. As part of winter planning and in the spirit of doing everything we can to help keep people out of hospitals, specifically emergency departments, that is an area that we are examining. The next parliamentary question deals with chronic disease management in the community. I disagree with the Deputy that not a lot is being done....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: In terms of capacity and revenue funding, this year has seen a record deployment in that regard. There is revenue available and there is capital available. I can assure the Deputy of that. However, capital applications are not only about new beds. New diagnostics, new operating theatres and new triage rooms have to be looked at and that is happening. Where capital funding is required, it...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. I agree it is imperative that general practice has the capacity we need because we have big ambitions for GP services, particularly as we move to care in the community. In that regard, the number of GPs has increased by about 12% over the past ten years. We need to look at that per capitaas well. The 2019 figures show that we are at 82 GPs per 100,000,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The short answer is "Yes". The first thing we needed to do was to provide more GP training posts. The change here is very impressive. In 2009, we had 120 people entering GP training. In 2020, we had 233. Step one has seen a very significant increase in the trainee positions. I take the Deputy's point that there is no point training these amazing people to be GPs only to see them leave...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, absolutely, if that is what is required and if that ultimately leads to better care for patients. I do not think we should rule anything out. In terms of the trainees, as I said we are up to 233 this year. Real progress has been made, which is very encouraging. There have been changes. Some of the changes include more flexible GMS contracts, sharing of GMS contracts and GPs allowed...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his question. Many elected representatives are keenly involved in this issue, including the Ministers of State, Deputies Thomas Byrne and Damien English, and Senators-----

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I can do.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: ---and Senators.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. The point I am making is that this is a serious issue, which is very real for the local community. It is something that has been discussed with me by Oireachtas Members in opposition and obviously, in government as well. I am aware that the HSE initiated a process of planning for changes to the services at Our Lady’s Hospital, Navan. I am also...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It does. We did not get the meeting with the Minister that we were supposed to get. It was promised by the Minister of State sitting behind him the last time we raised this issue. While we welcome the temporary reprieve for the accident and emergency department and ICU in Navan hospital that the Minister announced today, we still need more clarity. I understand what the Minister said...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I understand that this is a very serious issue for the local communities. My own community was involved in exactly this small hospital framework with regard to the hospital in Loughlinstown. Changes were made. I backed those changes from the Opposition and I will tell the Deputies why I did so. I and the other four elected representatives from the constituency met the senior clinical team...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Hospital Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I again thank the Deputies. I am listening to them and to my Government colleagues very carefully. The debate we are having right now is an important one. I would expect nothing less. I want this debate to happen with the HSE management and the senior clinicians in the room because they need to answer these questions, not just from the Opposition but from the elected representatives of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with everything the Deputy just said. Therefore, where do we start? We start as a Parliament and a Government by saying that the waiting lists before Covid-19 arrived were completely unacceptable. They are higher now because of Covid-19 and a cyberattack. The current situation is completely unacceptable. We must, therefore, act. It is my absolute priority as Minister for Health...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Money is not the only answer but it is part of the answer because without money, this is not going to move. Next year, I have allocated a total of €350 million. The Deputy will be aware that I am appointing a ministerial task force to look at this issue. We are taking the learnings from the very successful vaccine task force and bringing them to bear. As the Deputy quite rightly...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: If we are going to get this right and we have to get it right, we have to be able to identify exactly the kind of projects the Deputy has referenced. We have to replicate and scale them. All over the HSE, brilliant initiatives are happening. Tallaght hospital has been running advanced nurse practitioner-led community teams in various disciplines such as neurology and urology and the...