Results 20,401-20,420 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reviews (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. It is very serious if that is the case. It is not the advice I have from the Department or the HSE. The advice I have is that the services and equipment are being provided. There is a mechanism whereby if a CHO does not have a budget specifically for this group of patients, it can put a business case together centrally. The HSE has not received any business cases and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reviews (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: Let us take a look. I will revert to the Deputy with a note.

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The Government, as provided for in the programme for Government, is committed to introducing the new public-only consultant contract. I want to do so in a timely manner. A new consultant contract, as I know the Deputy will agree, is one of the important steps towards universal, single-tier healthcare, with public hospitals exclusively used for the treatment of public patients. That is the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: As it happens, I met Dr. Humphries and her associate on Monday or Tuesday. As the Deputy is aware, they have done five years' work on this. They have focused their work specifically on Australia but I fully agree that the matters are intrinsically linked. A root-and-branch reform of the non-consultant hospital doctor, NCHD, pathway is needed. The current pathway for NCHDs is not...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: It is too long and completely unacceptable. I have personally, as no doubt the Deputy has, seen the distress in overcrowded emergency departments - distress to patients, their families and our healthcare professionals across the country. I have visited some of the busiest sites including Limerick and Galway. Later today I will be in the Mercy Hospital in Cork and tomorrow I will be in Cork...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I fully agree that the operation in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is fantastic. I think it has five separate pathways when patients come in, including the use of advanced nurse practitioners who are doing a phenomenal job in being able to see, treat and discharge about 70% to 75% of the patients coming into that hospital. The challenge the Deputy posed is exactly the challenge I...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with all of that. In Bray on Friday, I met the new chronic disease management team, the new older persons team and the new community healthcare network, including a pilot on mental health led by an advanced nurse practitioner in mental health. The level of prevention that is going on, including emergency presentation, is very impressive and fully in line with the Sláintecare...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Departmental Reviews (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for raising the matter. I am very sympathetic to the patients and their families over what has happened. I met the patient groups involved in late 2020 and supported their call for a review into sodium valproate. I committed to making it happen. Since then, senior officials in my Department have been engaging closely with the patient groups and other stakeholders over...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Maternity Hospital (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: Government recently made the significant decision on the long-term solution to replacing Holles street. This will be a platform for the much-needed change on how we will provide care to women in Ireland. There are infrastructural challenges with facilities at Holles St. It’s not in keeping with our National Maternity Strategy. I want to thank and acknowledge all the wonderful staff at...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 16, 27, 100 and 340 together. In December 2021, the Government agreed a new National Elective Ambulatory Care Strategy. This aims to change the way in which day case, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans and outpatient services can be better arranged and ensure greater capacity in the future. It will also help to address waiting lists on a national level...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I would like to thank the Deputy for this important question. Therapists play a crucial role in service delivery, often to the most vulnerable in society. Ensuring that therapists who have qualified outside the State can practise is a priority for me, and the Government. Consequently, this year I increased CORU’s funding to €5m, a rise of 60% on 2017’s. CORU has...

Written Answers — Department of Health: International Agreements (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for this question. I agree with him that the World Health Organisation plays a vital role in public health and that we need to address any confusion here. Let me be clear, what is being looked at is an international agreement or instrument to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. The aim of such an instrument is to protect public health and to help...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: I would like to thank Deputy Stanton for raising this question and to acknowledge the importance of Community Nursing Units (CNUs) throughout the country. In 2016, a Capital Programme for Older Persons Residential Centres was developed to replace, upgrade and refurbish care facilities. This was in response to the introduction of HIQA’s National Residential Care Standards for Older...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The HSE has advised that a proposal for a project to develop additional capacity at the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh is currently being considered. This proposal involves the provision of an additional 10 bed High Dependency Unit, 76 bed ward, 3 theatres & radiology refurbishments, allowing Cappagh to further increase its surgical throughput. The proposal has been...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The MIU (Minor Injuries Unit) was established in January 2007 and is located on the grounds of Our Lady's Hospital Campus, Cashel. It is approximately 15 miles from the nearest Emergency Department in South Tipperary University Hospital. The MIU is open for the treatment of minor injuries or ailments. There is a predefined treatment list, including the treatment of such incidents as stitches,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The 2022 Waiting List Action Plan, which I launched in February, was developed following extensive consultation between my Department, the HSE and the National Treatment Purchase Fund. €350 million is being allocated to the HSE and NTPF to provide additional public and private activity to further stabilise and reduce scheduled care waiting lists and times and bring forward much needed...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: COVID-19 is a new disease so information on it, its features, incidence and course are still emerging My Department, and the HSE, continue to review new evidence, research and data on all aspects of COVID19 including Long COVID, as it emerges to ensure care is in place for all who need it. The HSE has developed and is implementing an interim Model of Care to provide Long COVID services...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: The Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) is the national dental scheme for medical card holders over the age of 16. The Scheme is provided by those private dentists who hold contracts with the HSE. The HSE monitors data on the number of dental professionals holding contracts in the DTSS, the number of contractors who submit claims and the number and type of claims made under the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: Letterkenny University Hospital (LUH) is a Model 3 Hospital, operating as part of the Saolta University Health Care Group. LUH is an Acute General and Maternity Hospital, providing a wide range of local and regional services on an in-patient, day case and out-patient basis. The budget allocation for LUH in 2022 is €161 million, an increase on 2020 and 2021 allocations. As at December...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (26 May 2022)

Stephen Donnelly: One of the most obvious impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic was that it accelerated the use of technology. Access to video technology in particular became ubiquitous, enabling many people to work from home and maintain social distancing. Across the health systems telehealth solutions were deployed at pace to enable virtual outpatient appointments and provide community based therapy service....