Results 10,641-10,660 of 45,789 for speaker:Simon Harris

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I do not doubt the Deputy. As the Deputy also knows, the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS, of the HSE has been showing a surplus because people were granted a card during times of unemployment but as they go back to work, the card is being returned when it comes up for review. While the Deputy is correct that there was an allocation of €10 million in the budget for this...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I do not have the up-to-date figure, but the PCRS had a surplus of about €30 million in 2016. It is a moving figure, but the most recent figures available to me are in that region. Deputy O'Reilly is correct that the people on trolleys are people who have been admitted by a clinician. It is also correct that people turning up in hospital - this is not blaming people because they...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: That is true. In 2016 there was a target of 95% of medical cards properly completed - I will deal with that point in a moment - and being processed and turned around within 15 days. The actual out-turn was 89.6%, so it fell short of the target. We have set a target of 96% for 2017. The point that Deputy O'Reilly makes is valid. We all see it in our work as Deputies, where people feel...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: There are a couple of points to note. Let me be clear and say that there is no financial need or incentive to be carrying out spot checks now. In terms of the surplus that PCRS actually found itself with at the end of 2016, unlike in previous years when previous Ministers for Health found themselves in very difficult situations regarding medical cards, that financial necessity is not there....

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I think the point that Deputy Durkan makes is very fair. It is important to those people working in PCRS that we provide, as legislators, the legal framework to do some of those things, if that is the view of the House. As I say, once we move on from the DCA legislation I would be very eager to work with colleagues on further legislative change where required.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: This is a very important part of Rebuilding Ireland, and I want to acknowledge the Chairman's excellent work in this regard. The premise is that people who are homeless have a need for a house and often have a need for other wrap-around services. The Chairman espoused the housing first principle in the programme for Government talks. Until relatively recently a view would have been taken...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: No better man.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I will get Deputy O'Reilly a detailed note on the breakdown and the impact. It is an important point. I have some detail here that I am happy to share. Much of the additional funding in 2016 was provided to service providers to improve their own services and meet their own unmet need. I will get the Deputy more detail. There are a couple of important points to make on Deputy Durkan's...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I will get the Deputy a detailed note. The note I have tells me that funding of €1.46 million has been allocated for the unit which will provide targeted screening and primary care services. It will visit hostels, prisons, direct care and refugee reception centres. I will forward the specific information requested by the Deputy.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I will get the Deputy more details on the unit.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: They are making a very important impact. Without pre-judging the outcome of the negotiations on the GP contract, an obvious point for discussion is the determination of what constitutes an out-of-hours service and a normal operating hours service. We can see clearly that there is a demand for the former. Given people's lifestyles, in terms of work and so forth, we need to determine what is...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: One interesting statistic is that 90% of the population now have access to out-of-hours services in 14 centres nationally. There are over 2,000 GPs providing services in out-of-hours co-operatives. There was an 11% increase in the total number of contacts with GP out-of-hours services in 2016 in comparison with 2015.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I certainly did not mean to cast any aspersion on the Chairman.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: We were looking for that information, but I am not sure that we have it available in the Department.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: They are all fair questions. We fund the HSE and ask the executive to set targets and then agree to them. The HSE has to transpose them and the resources provided into its community health organisations, CHOs. I will ask the HSE to send a note to the Deputy detailing exactly what the increases mean for each CHO and answering the public versus private question. The Deputy and I discussed...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: The Deputy might dispute it, but there is a budget line for it. There is funding available for postgraduate training. Whether it is enough is a matter for debate, but funding is available for HSE-employed nurses but not for practice nurses. At my recent briefing on the general practitioner, GP, contract, I made it clear to the HSE and to the Department that while we are debating and...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: We will get both for the Deputy.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. He also raised it with me on a number of previous occasions in the context of his constituency and region. We have made some progress in respect of it in the meantime. Orthodontic waiting lists are a cause of significant concern. As the Deputy pointed out, for a child or an adolescent at a certain time in his or her life, his or her inability to...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2017
Vote 38 - Health (Revised) (2 Mar 2017)

Simon Harris: General practice is one area of the health service that works very well. People in this country largely have access to their GPs at relatively short notice. Such ease of access has been lost in a number of other countries. While I am conscious of the changes, improvements and modernisation that are required - as are our GP organisations - we do not want to lose all that is good about...