Results 4,101-4,120 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The OECD report, Health at a Glance, to which the Deputy refers, states that data gathering and calculation methods vary across countries and therefore warns that "cross-country variations in remuneration levels should be interpreted with a lot of caution". In Ireland, hospital consultants' salaries are determined by the review body on higher remuneration in the public sector. This is an...

Written Answers — Infectious Diseases: Infectious Diseases (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 97 and 208 together. MRSA, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, is a resistant form of staphylococcus aureus. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, formerly known as the National Disease Surveillance Centre collects data on MRSA bacteraemia also known as blood stream infection or blood poisoning as part of the European antimicrobial...

Written Answers — National Treatment Purchase Fund: National Treatment Purchase Fund (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The National Treatment Purchase Fund has reported that in most instances anyone waiting more than three months for a routine surgical procedure will be facilitated by the fund. A patient may contact the fund directly or through his or her general practitioner, hospital or consultant to have his or her treatment arranged. The fund has pointed out, however, that in certain cases, for reasons of...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The delivery of health services is an operational matter and is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive. Under section 31 of the Health Act 2004, the executive must prepare and submit to me its service plan for the coming year and must, among other things, indicate the type and volume of health and personal social services to be provided by the executive for the duration of the...

Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 103 and 193 together. The recently published OECD report, Health at a Glance 2005, stated that the number of acute care beds in Ireland in 2002 was three per 1,000 population and that the average occupancy rate for acute hospital beds was 84%. The average number of beds per 1,000 population in the OECD countries in 2002 was 4.2 and the average occupancy rate...

Written Answers — Hospital Waiting Lists: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The management of outpatient waiting lists is, in the first instance, a matter for the National Hospitals Office and the individual hospitals concerned. However, earlier this year I asked the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, to examine the position with a view to further assessing the needs of patients waiting longest on outpatient waiting lists and the most appropriate clinical...

Written Answers — Hospital Waiting Lists: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: Responsibility for the collection and reporting of waiting lists and waiting times now falls within the remit of the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF. My Department has, therefore, asked the chief executive of the NTPF to reply to the Deputy directly with the information requested.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has again requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have the matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Primary Care Strategy: Primary Care Strategy (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 155, 179 and 189 together. The Government remains fully committed to the implementation of the principles in the primary care strategy. The strategy provides a template for the reform and development of primary care services over a period of ten to 15 years. The chief executive officer of the Health Service Executive has also emphasised the importance of...

Written Answers — General Practitioner Co-operatives: General Practitioner Co-operatives (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 112, 127 and 134 together. The provision of quality, responsive, accessible and patient centred general practitioner out-of-hours services is a key priority objective within the primary care strategy. Between 2000 and 2005 almost €105 million has been allocated to the Health Service Executive, HSE, to allow for the development of out-of-hours co-operatives....

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The report of the Commission on Financial Management and Control Systems in the Health Service, the Brennan report, recommended that the health service should "recruit a substantial proportion of Consultants on a public-only contract". The issue of the public-private mix will be one of the priority issues addressed in the impending consultant contract negotiations. In this context the...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: At the request of the Department of Health and Children, a committee was established by Comhairle na nOspidéal to review the existing arrangements for the provision of neurosurgical services and consultant staffing nationally and, following consultation with the interests concerned, to make recommendations on the future organisation and development of neurosurgical services. My Department...

Written Answers — Hospital Waiting Lists: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The management of outpatient waiting lists is, in the first instance, a matter for the national hospitals office of the Health Service Executive, HSE, and the individual hospitals concerned. My Department has, therefore, asked the parliamentary affairs division of the HSE to reply to the Deputy directly in relation to this matter.

Written Answers — Hospitals Building Programme: Hospitals Building Programme (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 265 together. It has been accepted that the current infrastructure at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children does not generally meet the standards required for a modern paediatric hospital. The available facilities do not satisfactorily accommodate the range and extent of current clinical and associated activity. In recognition of this, a project team...

Written Answers — Health Service Executive: Health Service Executive (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 118 and 185 together. I decided to proceed with the establishment of the Health Service Executive, HSE, with effect from 1 January 2005 to ensure that the momentum of the health service reform programme was maintained. Arrangements were put in place to underpin this. The chairman of the interim HSE was appointed as interim chief executive officer until such...

Written Answers — Hospital Waiting Lists: Hospital Waiting Lists (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the parliamentary affairs division of the executive to arrange to have a reply in relation to this matter issued directly to him.

Written Answers — Departmental Expenditure: Departmental Expenditure (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I have been informed by the HSE that iSOFT is a major international supplier of IT systems to health care. It has a substantial portfolio of products and it has a product development programme known as Lorenzo. I am informed that under the terms of the HSE's contract with iSOFT, the company has already delivered its current version of the software and the implementation of this suite is under...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 121 and 162 together. It is regrettable that some patients have had their operations postponed as this can cause inconvenience and stress for some of those patients. Due to the nature of the demands on the acute hospital system, in some instances, it is necessary to reschedule planned treatment when priority has to be given to emergency cases or for a variety...

Written Answers — Accident and Emergency Services: Accident and Emergency Services (22 Nov 2005)

Mary Harney: The Health Service Executive is advancing the implementation of a series of measures to improve the delivery of accident and emergency services. These measures take a wide ranging approach and are aimed at improving access to accident and emergency services, improving patient flows through accident and emergency departments, freeing up of acute beds and providing appropriate longer-term care...