Results 12,841-12,860 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Health Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: I hope so.

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: As I mentioned in an earlier reply, considerable improvements have been made in the delivery of services in emergency departments. Specific targeted actions are in train to deal with internal management in hospitals in order to improve patients' experiences. The HSE is also arranging for 200 additional beds to be contracted in private nursing homes with a particular focus on major Dublin...

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: Although we may be political opponents, I have a great deal of respect for Deputy Reilly, as he knows. As someone who has a lot of knowledge of this area, he knows it is not all gloom and doom and bad news in this respect. Things have vastly improved. In 1980, life expectancy in this country was two years below the EU15 average — it is now 18 months above that average. Sweden is the...

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: We are developing the home care sector. It is not something that has always been done, however. It used to be all or nothing — one went into a public long-term care facility, where 90% of the cost of one's care was subsidised, or one went into a private nursing home, perhaps with the help of a subvention, and had to pay at least 60% of the cost of one's care. It was totally inequitable....

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: It is not actually. It costs a great deal of money to recruit people and meet their pension requirements, etc. I am familiar with the position in the north east, which is represented by Deputy Morgan. The document to which he referred is a draft — no final decision has been taken on it.

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: Can I outline the intention in the north east, which has a higher level of admission into the acute system than any other region? Half of the surgical patients in the region come to Dublin hospitals. One third of medical patients in the region come to Dublin hospitals. They have longer stays.

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: There will be less inpatient activity in the north east. That is what is needed in the region and that is what will happen. It is forecast that inpatient numbers there will decrease by approximately 1,800. There will be more day case activity there. That is the way it should be——

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: ——and that is the way it is in every good health care system in the world. One should not have to staff hospitals on Saturdays and Sundays if surgical procedures can be done on a day basis from Monday to Friday. That is a fact all over the world.

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: It is happening here. We are not closing anything.

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: We are trying to make things better.

Accident and Emergency Services. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: According to the HSE, 800 community supports will be provided in the north east next year.

Ambulance Service. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: A review of ambulance service provision in Dublin city and county, which was commissioned and jointly chaired by Dublin City Council and the Health Service Executive, was completed in February 2007. The review was not formally progressed during 2007 because we were awaiting the receipt of the judgment of the European Court of Justice in a case against Ireland relating to the arrangements for...

Ambulance Service. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: I agree with the Deputy that prosperity influences longevity. Professor Brendan Walsh, by the way, stated in a well-argued paper last week that it was half prosperity and half improved treatments. I have heard one ambulance driver talk about a particular experience but I am not aware that it is the huge issue the Deputy is making it out to be.

Ambulance Service. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: If it is, I will make sure that whoever is responsible in the HSE speaks with the Deputy about this issue. I have not seen the review referred to by the Deputy as it has not been published because of the litigation in the European Union, but I understand that the 15 recommendations therein are currently being considered by the HSE.

Cancer Screening Programme. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: I have already answered a similar question. There is no point in reading out the same answer. I refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 4.

Cancer Screening Programme. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: The National Cancer Screening Service Board, which has responsibility for this issue, will be subsumed under Professor Tom Keane as soon as possible because it makes sense to have both screening and treatment under the control of one person. The board was not in a position to go to tender for laboratory services or to sign contracts with general practitioners to provide screening until it...

Cancer Screening Programme. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: I do not give dates unless I really believe that is what will happen and I have been given specific information.

Cancer Screening Programme. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: All I can say is that it will be the middle of the year, which means May to July, so some time around June. I will be extraordinarily surprised and disappointed if that timeframe is not met, if that is helpful to the Deputy. I am sure he will be quick to remind me if it is not met.

Cancer Screening Programme. (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: Based on my last discussions with Mr. O'Brien, I understand that it will be 50:50 because the accredited facilities in Ireland do not have the capacity to provide a ten working day turnaround.

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (31 Jan 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 71 together. The improvement of services to persons with cystic fibrosis has been a priority of mine. The HSE was asked to place a particular focus on the development of services at the National Tertiary Referral Centre at St. Vincent's Hospital. The negative experience recounted by some patients is a matter of concern to me. In 2006 and 2007,...