Results 13,061-13,080 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I acknowledge the Deputy's advocacy for this essential healthcare infrastructure for the region in question. I had a very productive meeting with the Saolta group some days ago regarding ongoing projects at University Hospital Galway, including this one, and a discussion on elective facilities in the region. I am happy to say this project for a new emergency department at University...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will get a specific answer. That specific query was not included in the question the Deputy submitted, which seeks an update on the totality of the works. The latter is what I endeavoured to provide. I will revert to the Deputy very quickly with the timeline relating to her additional specific question on planning permission. On the new hospital, I had a very constructive meeting...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: In defence of University Hospital Galway, I think it is fit for purpose. The staff there do exceptional work. I visited the hospital when I was in opposition.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Facilities (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: They do indeed do exceptional work. The proposition of elective hospitals is one being deployed in Cork, Galway and Dublin. It is international best practice and is going well where it is used. Tallaght has secured an elective-only site in its area. The idea is to separate scheduled and unscheduled care as that has good outcomes. I take the point about having a more ambitious plan...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Deputy Bríd Smith for her question. When I received the question, it alarmed me because it suggested something that should not be happening. As a result, I asked for it be looked into. The flu vaccine is free for all healthcare workers working in our public and voluntary hospitals and to all healthcare workers delivering front-line services. It is also available free of...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. The two issues are separate. There is the question of vaccinations and the question of students and the allowances they should be paid. I know the Deputy and others are advocating that they become part of the paid workforce. The colleges are strongly opposed to that and are very worried about it. They believe the comparisons with the apprenticeship model could set the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: We are talking about a different issue now but I am very happy to talk about it. There are two separate issues. One is whether students are being asked to do inappropriate activities while on their clinical placements. Various testimonies have been read out in the Dáil and various students have given testimony in the media and online. As Minister for Health, I take those allegations...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: General Practitioner Services (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 83 and 157 together. I thank the Deputy for his question and acknowledge his ongoing advocacy on this very important issue for the region and for his constituency. GP out-of-hours services for Cork and Kerry are provided by SouthDoc. The latter is a private organisation with more than 20 locations across the two counties, including a treatment centre in...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: General Practitioner Services (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank both Deputies for their responses. As Members will know, all of the relevant services were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic. I have no doubt that the fact that the Blackpool centre remains closed is very frustrating for the people of the north of the city whom the Deputies represent. Reopening it is a priority. The HSE has engaged with SouthDoc to ask for the centre to be...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: General Practitioner Services (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. He asks a very fair question about timelines for timelines. I can make a commitment to both Deputies that I will have a response from the HSE in a matter of days. That does not mean SouthDoc will have provided the timeline that has been requested of it. I will re-emphasise the importance of this and revert to both Deputies on both issues in a matter of days.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 452 together. The HSE has statutory responsibility for decisions on pricing and reimbursement of medicines under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013. I am informed that the HSE received two applications for the reimbursement of dupilumab for the treatment of moderate to severe atopic dermatitis in patients who are...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with everything the Deputy has said. The health committee of the previous Dáil spent a lot of time considering this. The good news is that there are some amazing, life-changing and lifesaving new drugs out there. A lot of them are so-called high-tech drugs, which are very expensive, and the HSE has been paying a lot more for such drugs. In recent years, for example, the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Medicinal Products (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: There have been several conversations and representations about Patisiran, the second drug the Deputy referenced, and I will revert to him and colleagues with an update on it. Any opportunity we can find to accelerate access to these new and exciting drugs should be taken. I had a conversation with medical oncologists just this week on access to new cancer drugs. On the €50...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have pursued a robust testing and contact tracing strategy. The HSE has worked intensively to put in place a comprehensive, reliable and responsive testing and tracing operation in a very short timeframe.  The redeployment of existing staff from other areas of the HSE, including front-line services as the Deputy pointed out, was an essential part...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: To answer the Deputy's direct question on the number of people in contact tracing, there are now no therapists or front-line community therapists working in contact tracing. They have all been redeployed. There is a current workforce of 736 in swabbing. Of those, 411 are redeployed staff. That combines both the therapists we are discussing and those with non-patient-facing roles. From...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Covid-19 Pandemic (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: It would be easy for us to say that Covid should be a fully stand-alone service line within the HSE and that we should be able to run one of the most comprehensive testing and tracing systems in the world independent of the existing HSE workforce, but that would not be a realistic request to the HSE. The HSE has pointed out repeatedly that while it is redeploying and is back-filling posts as...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: As I mentioned to Deputy Cullinane earlier, I recognise the importance of student nurses and midwives completing their essential clinical placements in a safe environment.  During the first surge of Covid-19 it was not possible to facilitate student placements from April onwards. This was due to redeployment of staff, including senior nurses who would ordinarily be supervising the...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: They do not want to their students to be paid as healthcare assistants.

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: I will need 60 seconds to respond, but if I do not have that, it is okay.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Education (10 Dec 2020)

Stephen Donnelly: Clinical placements for nursing and midwifery students represent the practice experience of the undergraduate programme. Students on placements are learning through participation in practice and care delivery, under the supervision of qualified staff. They develop the practical knowledge, clinical skills and professional values required to meet the education standards for qualification and to...