Results 6,141-6,160 of 45,539 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Charitable and Voluntary Organisations (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: While I am endeavouring to fill the Deputy with confidence, we must be careful not to fill Irish people with a lack of confidence in some of the best service providers we have in this country in the delivery of health care. Some of the section 38 organisations, in fact many of them, are operating to the highest governance standards-----

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Charitable and Voluntary Organisations (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: -----and are delivering vital health services which, frankly, were never delivered by the State. If they were not there, God knows in what type of situation vulnerable people in this country would have found themselves. What we must do is weed out the bad apples. We must find the people who are not living within the rules. That is the reason we have an annual compliance statement. What...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Groups (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: As I have stated previously, I intend to continue to implement hospital groups structures but on an administrative basis. The reason is that I asked the House to establish an Oireachtas all-party committee to develop a single long-term vision for health care over a ten year period. It is important that those discussions are progressed before I give further consideration to the issue of...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Groups (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I am accountable to the House for the decisions I have made during my time as Minister for Health. That is what I was endeavouring to do in my initial response to the question, by outlining my philosophy and principal objective in how I intend to populate the hospital group boards which are not currently populated. I assure the House that nobody will sit on a hospital group board or be...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Groups (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I take the Deputy's point but I reiterate my point that these appointments were made for a 24-month period. We did not have a scenario whereby people were sanctioned for the rest of their career. These appointments were made initially for 24 months, considering what the then Government decided was the particular and extraordinary circumstance of trying to get these hospital groups up and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I understand from data provided by the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, that at the end of June 2016 some 3,859 patients were waiting for gynaecology outpatient appointments and 458 were waiting for inpatient or day case gynaecology procedures at Cork University Hospital. While these figures represent a welcome reduction on...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy and take his point. It is cold comfort to people on waiting lists today to hear that the waiting list for this very procedure has fallen significantly in that hospital, given 4,622 people were waiting for this outpatient procedure in Cork University Hospital in June of last year and this is now down to 3,859. The figure is still much too high but it is a reduction, and I...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I take very seriously the points made by the Deputy. It is very serious for people awaiting these procedures and people are waiting too long. This is why we need a concerted effort to tackle waiting lists and why all of us in this House need to work together in the Estimates process to make sure we adequately resource our health service and the NTPF, as well as our hospitals, to address...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for introducing the question. I have been made aware by him that the number of patients waiting over a year for an outpatient appointment in Cork University Hospital has increased since the end of last year. However, these increases must be seen in the context of the overall increased demand for care and increased overall activity and productivity in our health system....

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Moynihan who made me aware of the very difficult and serious case of somebody's surgery, which I have had investigated. The very honest answer to the question is that we have a health system which lost 12,000 staff during the years of economic recession in the country and we have put back 6,000 of 12,000 staff but we need not pat ourselves on the back because we need at least...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: According to NTPF data, 60% of patients wait for less than six months for the required outpatient appointment or inpatient day case procedure. At present, 91% of patients wait less than the maximum waiting time of 15 months for inpatient or day case procedures and 92% wait less than 15 months for outpatient appointments. We need to continue to do better but we need to not tie ourselves up...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Brassil for raising this important matter with me. He has brought it to my attention personally as well. As I have said to some of the Deputy's colleagues, a key challenge for the health services is to continue to ensure timely access to them while at the same time recognising that there is a constant increased demand on them. In that regard, I have been assured that the HSE...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: The Deputy will understand if I do not get into a turf war either. His leader probably would not appreciate my becoming involved in a Cork v. Kerry spat. The Deputy's point is very serious about ensuring equity of access to the health service. The idea of the hospital group structure is not to look at the local hospital or county but to take a geographically wider view. This is why the...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I will do as the Deputy has asked and have the change in waiting times examined. I have had a very open conversation with the NTPF. Its terms of reference are broad. It exists to carry out specific tasks as are assigned to it by the Minister for Health of the day. I have asked that we have a conversation about other areas where it considers it could make a difference. The optimal...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Health Services Provision (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank Deputy Barry for his question. Voluntary and non-statutory service providers, including religious orders, have a long history of providing health and personal social services in Ireland and of receiving State funding to provide such services. I would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of all such providers to the delivery of these essential services. I remarked...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Health Services Provision (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: As I said very clearly already, my responsibility as Minister for Health is to make sure that we are delivering the services that the Irish public require in terms of their health and well-being. My responsibility is to ensure that the funding this House approves for me to expend on the health service is disbursed by the HSE, either spent by it or disbursed to voluntary organisations, and...

Ceisteanna - Questions (Resumed) - Other Questions: Health Services Provision (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I will have a look at the information the Deputy has made available to me and I will revert to him directly on it. I recently met people involved in the Termination for Medical Reasons, TFMR, group, and we had a discussion on a number of issues regarding ensuring consistency in terms of access, particularly to bereavement counselling and procedures. I have undertaken in regard to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: As the Deputy is aware, two reports have recently been published by the Board which identify historical organisational and financial governance shortcomings in its operation. The NMBI has acknowledged that appropriate operational and governance procedures were not always properly applied. The Board is already implementing the reports' recommendations and is committed to ensuring that all...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff Recruitment (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: I met with members of the Sarcoma Action Group last Wednesday and discussed sarcoma services with them. The recruitment of a consultant medical oncologist with a special interest in sarcoma, based in St. Vincent’s University Hospital, will be prioritised to facilitate further development of the service there. The Director General of the HSE has directed that work on the open...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (12 Jul 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure timely access to health services. This Government recognises that a sustained commitment to improving waiting times is required with a particular focus on those waiting longest. While waiting list numbers nationally have increased in the first half of the year, this must be seen in the context of increased demand for care in our health...