Results 15,421-15,440 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I wholeheartedly agree and, in fact, I met a group of foreign doctors who are non-consultant hospital doctors. They have two very reasonable asks. One is on their visas. They need to update their visas regularly. From memory it is every six months but please do not hold me to that. It may be different for different countries. I am engaging with the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee,...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will have to defer to the Chairman on that. I do not have any extra time. I was asked to cover a very wide gamut of issues, including capacity within the system, the impact of Covid on waiting lists and many other issues. I had five minutes as an opener, which is about 600 words. We have two hours now so my understanding is that any members who wish to ask any relevant questions can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: That is entirely up to the Chairman. As members will be aware, I commissioned an independent review by Professor Tom Collins to look at the allowances payable to student nurses and midwives while on clinical placement in the context of Covid. There are two different reviews. One is the review by Professor Collins, which is specifically in the context of Covid, while we are starting a...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Can the Deputy explain what he means by "reverting to the March agreement"?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: To be clear, what happened last March was that the clinical placements were stopped and the students had to make up that time later in the year. The clinical placements were stopped and the supervising senior nurses were then deployed into the healthcare system. About one in three students who were on placement where the placements were paused came back as healthcare assistants and were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Quickly, if the Deputy does not mind, the answer to his last question is "Yes".

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Can the Chairman hear me now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Sorry. I thank the Deputy for that question. I will get Deputy Cullinane a detailed response as to the gap between the target and the full-time staff. The Deputy will forgive me, as I do not have the detail. It is not one of the topics that the committee asked us to discuss today and I do not have those exact figures in front of me. I understand the HSE is coming in next week and will...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I do not know how much time I have left. Can the Chair guide me?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Chairman and Deputy Cullinane. Between us all, we could not overstate the challenge in terms of the waiting lists, the unmet care and the missed care. The challenges we face are very significant. We are responding in various ways but, obviously, within a very challenging Covid context. The first place to look is the national service plan, which is now up online. We have...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his kind words. Is it the end of the NIAC review? Absolutely not. NIAC is reviewing on a weekly basis and on a daily basis. We are learning new things all the time, new studies are being published and new decisions are being made. For example, Professor Butler, who is the chair of NIAC, was referencing with me at a session recently a new study from NHS Scotland....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: As to prioritisation, what it has concluded recently, which we published, was, if one likes, a clinical prioritisation, looking at those with underlying conditions and age cohorts, and it did some very detailed work in terms of prioritising according to vulnerability. What it is now looking at is the next and very large grouping, which is key workers, for example, family carers. Many people...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, that is a much more succinct answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy is looking for a written reply on that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will get the Deputy a written reply.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: That is correct. The latest briefing I have from the HSE is that a large majority of those aged 85 and older will have received their first vaccination by the end of this week. There will be some who are housebound for whom individual solutions are being put in place. Some who are housebound have already been vaccinated and in some cases, I understand, GPs will be calling to houses and the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It was an operational decision taken, I believe, between the HSE and the Irish Medical Organisation, IMO, that, at least for now, the vaccinations should be done in a clinical setting.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: It is a big question, and one that has occupied us all. There is a lot of work going on. The development board, I believe, very successfully resisted a lot of claims from the contractor. I do not have the numbers with me but, as I understand it, the amounts awarded by the appeals mechanism or mediation mechanism as part of the contract are very small relative to the awards being made. In...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I will certainly ask the task force to look at that. I do not know whether we could produce the delivery figures daily. The Deputy and others asked for the figures for daily doses administered, which we are providing in the data hub and on the app. I believe all members of the committee and all Members of the Oireachtas are getting a daily briefing. I can certainly take up the Deputy's...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Covid-19 Health Related Issues: Update (2 Mar 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The short answer is "Yes". Many important elements have been agreed for this year, one of which is the very important framework for safe staffing for nurses, as referenced by Deputy Shortall. There were huge benefits on the pilot sites where it was done. I have told the HSE that the Government wants staffing and the increase in nursing levels to be done in line with the safe staffing...