Results 12,961-12,980 of 40,330 for speaker:Leo Varadkar

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (20 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I would like to thank the Senator for raising this important issue. Under the Health Act 1970, as amended, eligibility for health services is based primarily on residency and means. The Senator 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...

Seanad: Commencement Matters: Medical Card Eligibility (20 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I studied this matter a lot last year and I have considered it repeatedly since then. The conclusion I came to - and I still take this view - is that until we have universal health care and everyone is entitled to health care, one will always have anomalies and injustices. There will always be somebody who is just above the threshold and does not meet the assessment criteria. However, we...

Seanad: HSE National Service Plan 2015: Statements (20 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am pleased to address Members of the Seanad on the HSE's National Service Plan 2015. I know that Members may also wish to discuss emergency department overcrowding and influenza. I am happy to update Members on both of these matters also. As the HSE service plan is now in operation, it is time that I update the House on the contents of the plan and my priorities for the health service...

Seanad: HSE National Service Plan 2015: Statements (20 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I thank Senators for a very interesting and informed debate over the past few hours. Before I go into my substantive response, one or two individual cases were raised. Senators will appreciate that I do not have any patients' charts on my desk and it would not be right for me to comment on individual cases but perhaps those cases were raised more to illustrate a point than to seek a...

Seanad: HSE National Service Plan 2015: Statements (20 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: What we need are targets that are based on patient outcomes. We need to do proper a clinical audit as to what happens to the patient, not when the vehicle arrives, and that is now being done. Dublin fire brigade already does a clinical audit and for the first time the national ambulance service will start doing a clinical audit this year and that will give us patient relevant information,...

Seanad: HSE National Service Plan 2015: Statements (20 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: There are quite a lot in mental health and that is where there is a particular issue because of the possibility of retiring at the age of 55. The latest HSE recruitment campaign for nurses received 3,700 applicants and that is the number currently being processed, and future recruitment drives are being planned to encourage nurses to return to Ireland. The number of nurses employed fell by...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Improving waiting lists for inpatient and day case treatment is a key priority for me and the Government. My Department is working with the HSE to put in place a plan to eliminate very long waiters by the end of the year. This will involve productivity improvement and rigorous waiting list management. Further increasing day case surgery rates for specific procedures will be important in...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to point out that all waiting lists are not the same. There are different waiting lists for different procedures, surgery, outpatient appointments, scans and other investigations. There are different waiting lists in different hospitals and for different consultants. Not all waiting lists are increasing; some are decreasing. For example, the waiting lists for physiotherapy...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: It is important to point out that roughly 80% of people are seen within the target time. We tend to focus on those for whom the target is not met. While non-urgent elective surgery is being cancelled, out-patient surgery is not and in most cases day surgery and investigations such as scopes, for example, are not being cancelled. It is not the case that everything is being cancelled or...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Services (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Government regards trolley waiting times of more than nine hours as being unacceptable and it acknowledges the difficulties which the current surge in emergency department activity is causing for patients, their families and the staff who are doing their utmost to provide safe quality care in very challenging circumstances. All hospitals have escalation plans to manage not only...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Services (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Adequate staffing levels are a given; I do not think it should have to be stated. The Deputy may be interested in some of the facts. We have more consultants than ever before and if we can achieve agreement with the IMO on the new consultant scales we will be able to regularise and advertise for quite a number of posts in the next couple of weeks, although, inevitably, such posts will take...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Services (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am not sure what the Deputy means by revelations with regard to the influenza vaccine. The vaccine used in Ireland is the same as is used all around the world and as recommended by the World Health Organisation. The reason we have to be vaccinated against the flu every year is because the virus changes and mutates every year. It is the case that this year the vaccine only has about 25%...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Services (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: My time is up. The Deputy can only ask so many questions and I can only respond to so many.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Services (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy can ask his question again. It is a case of fewer questions more answers.

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: There are currently 686 patients waiting for knee replacement surgery at Cappagh Hospital. Some 15% of these patients, approximately 100, have been waiting between nine and 12 months and 12%, in the region of 70, have been waiting for more than a year. I met representatives from the hospital late last year to discuss the challenges it faces. In 2014, there was an increase of approximately...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Waiting lists are checked every month or two months and are validated every three months. As a result of the modest increase in the budget for 2015, capacity and workload at Cappagh Hospital will increase and more procedures will be carried out there. Of course, demand is also increasing. It is my hope and expectation that - on foot of the expanded budget - activity will increase faster...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: HSE Investigations (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: The Deputy should not worry about the pressures under which I am operating.

Other Questions: HSE Expenditure (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I wish once again to convey my sympathies to the family of the woman at the centre of this case. As the House will know, this case concerned a woman who was brain dead, pregnant and on life support for a number of weeks in a hospital in the State. An application was brought to the High Court by the woman’s family to withdraw somatic life support. Clinicians decided not to do so...

Other Questions: HSE Expenditure (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: Nobody is trying to gag Deputy Coppinger. With the greatest of respect, I do not believe she is the kind of person who would or could be gagged. She need have no fear about that. An issue of privacy and decency arises and the family has asked for privacy and for its confidentiality to be respected. We should endeavour to do that to the greatest extent possible. All of this was heard...

Other Questions: HSE Expenditure (21 Jan 2015)

Leo Varadkar: I am no expert on legal costs but understand bills are usually submitted and are all adjudicated upon by the Taxing Master or a similar entity. I cannot tell the Deputy when the costs will be known. The HSE did not defend this case. On behalf of the hospital, it actually supported the proposal that life support be ended. The Deputy may take a look at the study herself. All the issues in...