Results 7,641-7,660 of 45,608 for speaker:Simon Harris

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The Primary Care Eye Services Review Group, which was established by the HSE, is currently finalising an implementation plan to support its review. The overall aim of the Review Group is to shift the management of many eye conditions from acute care services to primary care and community services, as appropriate. The Government is committed to updating the national eye care plan,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Availability (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drugs schemes, in accordance with the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. Prior to deciding whether to reimburse a medicine, the HSE considers a range of statutory criteria, including clinical need, cost-effectiveness and the resources available to the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Expenditure (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: As this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 59 and 95 together. A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. While the numbers on waiting lists are undoubtedly too high, the key issue is how long...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hepatitis C Compensation Payments (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I understand that a group of women who received infectious, or potentially infectious, Anti-D Immunoglobulin in two periods (between 1977 and 1979 and between 1991 and 1994) and who tested negative for Hepatitis C are seeking access to claim compensation from the Hepatitis C and HIV Compensation Tribunal and to be awarded HAA cards. The Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal (Amendment) Act...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 62 and 126 together. Patient safety and outcomes must come first. There have been a number of reports on Portlaoise Hospital in recent years. These reports pointed to the need for reconfiguration of some services to ensure that patients are treated in the most appropriate setting by specialist staff that can safely meet their needs. Since 2014 the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Ambulance Service Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: As this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund Waiting Times (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. While the numbers on waiting lists are undoubtedly too high, the key issue is how long people are waiting. According to the September waiting...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund Waiting Times (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. While the numbers on waiting lists are undoubtedly too high, the key issue is how long people are waiting. According to the September waiting...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospitals Building Programme (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: There are currently no plans to construct a regional hospital for the north east in Navan. The proposal that a regional hospital be developed in Navan originated in a report prepared for the HSE in 2008. This proposal was superseded by the Government's decision, in 2013, to re-organise acute hospitals into Hospital Groups. Our Lady’s Hospital Navan is part of the Ireland East...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Expenditure (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The use of biotechnology in the pharmaceutical field has led to the development of many new biological medicines, offering new treatments for a range of serious illnesses. The manufacturing of a biological medicine is a complex process. Biosimilar medicines are similar but not identical to their reference biological medicines, and therefore are not considered in the same way as generic...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff Recruitment (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: Our Lady’s Hospital Navan is a constituent hospital of the Ireland East Hospital Group. Hospital Groups must increasingly focus on networks of service provision with smaller hospitals managing routine, urgent or planned care locally, more complex care managed in the larger hospitals and better linkages with primary, continuing and social care. The future of Navan hospital is as a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund Waiting Times (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. While the numbers on waiting lists are undoubtedly too high, the key issue is how long people are waiting. According to the September waiting...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health and Social Care Professionals (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I can confirm that I will be implementing in full the decisions taken earlier this year by my predecessor, Leo Varadkar T.D., that the titles of physiotherapist and physical therapist would be protected under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005 and that there would be only one register for the profession. This was welcomed by the Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists. ...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund Waiting Times (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. While the numbers on waiting lists are undoubtedly too high, the key issue is how long people are waiting. According to the September waiting...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund Waiting Times (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. While the numbers on waiting lists are undoubtedly too high, the key issue is how long people are waiting. According to the September waiting...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Accommodation Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: Galway University Hospitals comprise of University Hospital Galway (UHG), a model 4 tertiary referral centre, and Merlin Park Hospital, a model 2 hospital, both located in the city of Galway. A number of significant projects have been completed in UHG in recent years. These include the Clinical Research Facility, the upgrade of the Maternity Unit and the CF out-patient department. In...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Abortion Services Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The Regulation of Information (Services Outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Act, 1995 defines the conditions under which information relating to abortion services lawfully available in another state might be made available in Ireland. Sections (3) and (5) of the 1995 Act provide that information on termination of pregnancy must be "..truthful and objective" , section (10)...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Accident and Emergency Services Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: To date, the HSE has reported a year-on-year increase of approximately 5% in Emergency Department attendances. Despite increased demand, there has been a decrease of almost 5% in numbers of patients waiting on trolleys. My Department, working with the HSE, has been driving a range of integrated initiatives to alleviate overcrowding in EDs, including: reducing attendances by expanding...