Results 22,741-22,760 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: Yes.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: They are required to be sterilised.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: Is that a medical or a political clinic?

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The Senator could double up in her work at this time of a moratorium.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I could use the Senator during the moratorium.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: Senator Ó Brolcháin is talking politically, of course.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I am happy to respond to our debate on this Bill, the purpose of which is to impose a prescription charge. As to the administration, a number of Senators seem to be under the illusion that a host of people in an office will go through various files to ascertain how to collect 50 cent. All payments for items through the general medical services, GMS, are computerised. If one uses a medical...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: A number are under pressure, but not because we are not paying them much. By international standards, we are paying them a great deal. However, many pharmacies, particularly in urban areas, got caught up in the property boom. Some of them paid an exorbitant amount to enter a business that the health service cannot sustain or be expected to sustain. I have considerable sympathy for those...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: Pharmacy is unlike any other retail business. Patients are entitled to engage on a confidential basis with pharmacists. I attended a recent meeting with Dr. Barry White, the new director of clinical care and quality at the HSE concerning the roll-out of new clinical care pathways. Some 24 clinicians, all leaders in their fields, have been appointed to roll out a new clinical care pathway...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Second Stage (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: They have considerable potential that we have not tapped. Sometimes, we seek to include new professionals in providing services. For example, I have provided for nurse prescribing in terms of X-rays and medication and for the involvement of nurses in the forensic examination of sexual assault victims. These initiatives are greatly enhancing the role of nurses and make more sense, as nurses...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: All community pharmacy contractors have a contract with the HSE which involves their being paid. In the case of the GMS, general medical services, scheme they are paid a particular fee for the first 20 items prescribed and a different fee thereafter. The payments systems are linked by computers and technology. The HSE has good data in respect of each person, what he or she gets each month...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: It is impossible to define in legislation what palliative care means and to identify it with the medical card. That is why there is a need for specific regulations because these are complex and difficult issues. With regard to the IMO proposals, essentially, we need doctors to prescribe differently. The clinical care pathways being rolled out by Dr. Barry White will include prescribing...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: If we compare this jurisdiction with Northern Ireland, we have similar demographics, a similar cultural experience and a shared history. In Northern Ireland the number of items per prescription is 1.7 whereas it is 3.7 here. If we compare two populations on the same island with similar demographics, doctors here prescribe much more than their counterparts in Northern Ireland. Any Minister...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The things that receive attention in the health service are the things that go wrong, but I am happy to say many things are going right. Among them is the decision to allow nurses to prescribe. Although we do not yet have definitive research, the findings from other countries and the anecdotal evidence here suggest nurses are much more conservative in prescribing. They put much more...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I again clarify that no old person will pay 5% of his or her income; the maximum percentage such a person will pay is 1.25%. The maximum amount to be paid will be €2.50 a week, if they have more than 20 prescription items a week. The charge is capped at a sum of €10 a month or €2.50 a week. As the old-age pension is slightly more than €200 a week, this amounts to a figure of 1.25%....

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The intention is to bring this Act into operation as quickly as possible. However, it is the intention of the HSE GMS payments division to have discussions with the IPU. Subject to any time constraints that may be involved in administration, it will be done as quickly as possible. I hope this will be by 1 September. The intention was for this to happen earlier in the year but...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: The system is being adapted all the time. It was adapted last year when we changed the level of payments. I do not believe the change needed is substantial. It is relatively straightforward and should not delay matters. We would like to have discussions between the contractors, namely the retail pharmacists, and the HSE.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: I do not believe there is any connectivity between the wholesalers and the HSE because the latter's contract is with the retail pharmacists, rather than with the wholesalers. There is connectivity in respect of the retail pharmacists because that is how they are paid. As all data with regard to GMS and drug payment scheme patients are transmitted from the pharmacies to the HSE for payment,...

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: Clearly, if it becomes operable on 1 September, it will raise €2 million per month from then onwards.

Seanad: Health (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2010: Committee and Remaining Stages (30 Jun 2010)

Mary Harney: As for patients, I mentioned earlier on Committee Stage that at present, the HSE is involved in 100 medication usage reviews involving 16 primary care teams nationwide, as well as the local pharmacists. Its purpose is to acquire good data on the use of medication. It is known that 45% of medication prescribed and dispensed is not appropriately used and 20% of people do not take their...