Results 10,361-10,380 of 15,268 for speaker:Kathleen Lynch

Other Questions: Medical Card Delays (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Under the Health Act 1970, as amended, eligibility for health services is based primarily on residency and means. The Deputy will be aware of the publication of the report of the expert panel on medical need for medical card eligibility and the medical card process review in November 2014. A key recommendation of the expert panel was that a person’s means should remain the main...

Other Questions: Medical Card Delays (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The review of the system, both within the Department and the HSE, is virtually continuous. Because of the difficulties that arose with medical cards the matter is constantly being reviewed, re-evaluated and tweaked. There are difficulties concerning medical cards because they no longer technically just give access to a GP or medical services in an acute hospital. Their expansion sometimes...

Other Questions: Accident and Emergency Department Waiting Times (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: And then there are headlines.

Other Questions: Primary Care Centre Provision (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank the Deputy for tabling this question. The development of primary care centres through a combination of public and private investment is supporting the delivery of an enhanced range of multidisciplinary, locally accessible primary health care services. To date, there are 85 primary care centres in operation throughout the country, 42 of which have opened since 2011. The HSE uses...

Other Questions: Primary Care Centre Provision (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The enhancement of primary care centres will have a manifold impact not just for health in the community by stopping people from having to access acute care in hospitals. The second impact it will have is with the recovery of the economy and the building industry which I believe is as important for those engaged in it with regard to their general and mental health. I do not have the...

Other Questions: Primary Care Centre Provision (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Forty two centres have been delivered since 2011 while 37 are currently under construction. Up to 43 primary care centres been delivered under the operational lease model. The HSE is at an advanced stage with developers in 28 locations where agreements for leases have been entered into. The HSE has advertised an additional 73 locations for delivery of primary care centres by operational...

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The budget for the nursing homes support scheme for this year is €948.8 million. The budget for 2015 reflects an increase of €10 million from the position in 2014. This €10 million increase has been allocated to the scheme as part of the initiative relating to the issue of delayed discharges and has allowed for the provision of an additional 300 long-term residential...

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I always find it very difficult when people either misunderstand or choose not to listen. I am assuming the Deputy did not misunderstand but chose not to listen.

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: It is that type of talk - this €10 million is only a drop in the ocean - that got us into the position we are in today. As if €10 million did not have a significant impact for the extra 300 people who could avail of the scheme. It made a significant impact. This type of attitude towards public finances - that laissez-faireattitude that €10 million does not matter and...

Other Questions: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: It is the Government’s intention to have a combination of residences available to people in the scheme, a significant proportion of which will include the public sector. We have 129 public long-stay nursing homes residences. We cannot afford to lose any one of them whether it is at Shaen, Abbeyleix or Cork. We are in constant negotiation with HIQA, the Health Information and Quality...

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Staff Recruitment (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Deputy Ferris will have to find different language to describe this issue because the word "disgrace" should not be used in this context. While I agree that people living in an exposed and isolated area deserve the same type of health service as everyone else in the community, the issue the Deputies raise is not the result of a deliberate action. Given the difficulty being experienced in...

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Staff Recruitment (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I may not have a GP living with me but I can still contact one.

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Staff Recruitment (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I want to read again from my initial reply as I do not know if people deliberately misunderstand or refuse to hear. I said the HSE had advised that there were no service or budget reduction elements relating to this issue. The nurse was recruited. It was a difficult process and I understand that difficulty because we have had a similar difficulty in looking for nurses in areas in which...

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I thank Deputies Brendan Ryan and Emmet Stagg for raising this issue which is very pertinent at this time, given that we are in prolonged discussions with various Departments and desperately trying to do what they are asking for. As they rightly pointed out, the nursing homes support scheme provides financial support for those who require long-term nursing home care, with residents...

Topical Issue Debate: Nursing Homes Support Scheme (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: I could not agree more with the Deputies. I have made it clear that we cannot afford to lose any bed, private or public, for older people. In regard to the fair deal scheme, we also need to look at the issue of funding and the notion that if one lives in Dublin, X amount is paid per bed, while the rate is different if one lives in Wicklow or Galway. No account is taken of the needs of the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Care Provision (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The HSE seeks to manage all of its residential facilities in a way that maximises efficiency and the application of available resources. It must also maintain standards and provide a high quality service to its residents. In this context all such facilities are subject to standards which are set and supervised by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA). Many HSE facilities,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Care Provision (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Consultant Geriatrician posts are in general contracted to the acute hospital system with some exceptions. In practice, geriatricians will provide an extended service to the community by way of undertaking clinics in a variety of settings including community hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and primary care centres. This type of outreach service provided in an integrated manner is a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products Availability (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products under the community drug schemes in accordance with the provisions of the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. The decisions on which medicines are reimbursed by the taxpayer, are not political or ministerial decisions. These are made on objective, scientific and economic...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Care Provision (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Consultant Geriatrician posts are in general contracted to the acute hospital system with some exceptions. In practice, geriatricians will provide an extended service to the community by way of undertaking clinics in a variety of settings including community hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, primary care centres. This type of outreach service provided in an integrated manner is a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospitals Discharges (21 Jan 2015)

Kathleen Lynch: Delayed discharges arise when a patient has been clinically discharged from an acute hospital but remains in an acute hospital bed, thus rendering that bed unavailable for patients who need admission. In Budget 2015 the Government allocated €25m to tackle the problem of delayed discharges and this additional funding is being applied across residential and community services to reflect...