Results 32,681-32,700 of 46,456 for speaker:Simon Harris

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: No, it is not, it is actually accountability. Deputy Kelly holds me politically accountable. He comes in here and rightly says that I must provide this and if I do not he gives me a very hard time. These are suggestions that came from the hospital when it said that if we gave it a second MRI it would free up a certain number of beds a day. We cannot agree on the number but let us say 20....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: The total emergency department attendances by people aged over the age of 75 are down by 110 this year on last year. Total emergency department admissions are down by 2,320 this year compared with last year. Total emergency department admissions by people aged over 75 are down by 907. This hospital is seeing more beds, through St. John's, a second MRI, the 60-bed modular under way, extra...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: There is more private capacity and private practice going on in the Deputy's regional hospital than the average hospital.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: While people, including that 95 year old woman, are waiting downstairs in the emergency department, which is a disgrace -----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: ----- private practice is going on in the hospital and there is more of that in the Deputy' hospital, if I may call it that, than elsewhere.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I am not managing the hospital.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: Mr. Reid is managing the whole health service.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I am coming the Deputy's way.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: Let us get this coalition going.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: Welcome back.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I think Mr. Woods wishes to respond.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I thank Senator Colm Burke for raising these matters. On his proposal to use the South Infirmary for cataract operations, as an example I refer to the investment we made through the NTPF working with the HSE in Nenagh hospital, where the hospital group came forward with a proposal to say that it had underutilised theatres and with an investment of about €1 million, from memory, that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I believe Mr. Reid has dealt with the questions.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: Earlier I said 83 beds of the 190 have been approved. Running a live tracker here, I now believe it is 107 beds because 25 for Tallaght have now also been approved. Therefore 107 of the additional 190 we hope to open have now been approved. If we stay for the day we might get that figure up even further. It is 107 and we can keep the committee updated as the numbers come in. I thank...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I will comment briefly on the issue of drug addiction. I want to reinforce the point the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, made about stigma. I spent approximately two hours at a private meeting of families impacted by addiction last night. It is a weekly addiction family support meeting in Dublin which I was kindly allowed to attend. The issue of stigma came up over and over again and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I am more than happy to take a break but I have an engagement at 1 p.m., however the Chairman wishes to factor that in.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: That is a great question. We are all trying to find extra capacity to deal with the immediate problems. We know we need to do better in terms of building more hospital capacity and more community capacity in the coming months and years. Basically, it is a call out to the system, and I echo that call again today. If a hospital manager or a hospital group manager believes that he or she can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I agree with the Deputy 100%, with the caveat that it has to be a matter of choice - I know the Deputy would agree with that too. We asked our group in the Department to bring together all the different units involved in this area in terms of eligibility and the likes as well as health and health policy. We published the report. My officials and others, including representatives of the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: I did not hear the report but I am not surprised to hear that view. Let us consider what direct provision and emergency accommodation for people coming to our country are about. This is about people coming from what can be a highly traumatic environment and fleeing oppression to another country. We can all imagine the trauma of that. We can only begin to imagine the trauma of that for a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Quarterly Meeting on Health Issues (11 Dec 2019)

Simon Harris: There are three parts to this. The Chairman raised the matter with me in the Dáil last week. The first part is to acknowledge that we need to train far more GPs. I am pleased to see that the number of GPs entering training is increasing. That is not a political statement. The Irish College of General Practitioners and others are welcoming this. We are now training more GPs than...