Results 23,521-23,540 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney
- Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 94 and 100 together. The Deloitte and Touche report has been updated and is being considered by the Department of Health and Children. I expect to publish it in the near future.
- Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: Significant progress has been made in increasing the number of training places in a wide range of health and social care professional courses in recent years. Following the implementation of the recommendations of the Bacon report, approximately 152 undergraduate places are available to students who want to study physiotherapy in Ireland. The number of occupational therapy training places has...
- Written Answers — Community Care: Community Care (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The provision of step down services for people ready to be discharged from hospital is a key element in ensuring that health services are matched to patient needs. When I published the health Estimates for 2005, I announced that patients awaiting discharge from acute hospitals would be accommodated in private nursing home beds for up to six weeks. When a patient is discharged from a private...
- Written Answers — Hospital Charges: Hospital Charges (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: Casemix is an internationally accepted management system for the monitoring and evaluation of health services. It allows for the collection, categorisation and interpretation of hospital patient data about the types of cases treated. It assists hospitals in defining their products, measuring their productivity and assessing quality. It is used as part of the budgetary process to base funding...
- Written Answers — Hospital Accommodation: Hospital Accommodation (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98, 141 and 142 together. The average number of acute hospital beds available in November 2004, the latest date for which complete figures are available, was approximately 13,400. A comprehensive review of acute hospital bed capacity needs, Acute Hospitals Bed Capacity â A National Review, was published by the Department in January 2002. The review helped to...
- Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: Entitlement to health services is primarily based on residency and means. The determination of eligibility for medical cards is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive. Other than for persons aged 70 years and over who are automatically entitled to a medical card, medical cards are issued to persons who, in the opinion of the executive, are unable to provide general practitioner...
- Written Answers — Medicinal Products: Medicinal Products (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The common list of reimbursable medicines for the general medical services and drug payment schemes ensures equity between the schemes in respect of the range of medicines paid for by the State. The list is reviewed and amended each month, as new products become available and deletions are notified. An item must comply with a published list of criteria if it is to be included on the common...
- Written Answers — Primary Care Strategy: Primary Care Strategy (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The national primary care steering group published a progress report in July 2004 which provides a detailed overview of progress in the implementation of the primary care strategy, Primary Care: A New Direction. I have no plans at present to publish a separate progress report on the implementation of the strategy. The national primary care steering group has a remit to oversee the...
- Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The provisions of section 79 of the Health Act 2004 provide for the making by the Minister for Health and Children of regulations regarding the dealings between the Health Service Executive and Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. It provides that these regulations will relate to the supply by the executive of specified documents or specified information to Members of either House of the...
- Written Answers — Proposed Legislation: Proposed Legislation (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: Regulation of the nursing and midwifery professions is the statutory responsibility of An Bord Altranais. The code of professional conduct for each nurse and midwife provides a framework to assist nurses to make professional decisions, to carry out their responsibilities and to promote high standards of professional conduct. Under the code, "any circumstance which could place patients/clients...
- Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The task force on medical staffing recognised the important contribution that primary care can make to the provision of quality patient care and to reducing inappropriate demand on the hospital sector. At the Department's request, the East Coast Area Health Board, which is now the HSE east coast area, and the Mid-Western Health Board, now the HSE mid-western area, comprising the two phase 1...
- Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: According to the most recent Health Service Employers Agency survey of nursing resources, recruitment remains well ahead of resignations and retirements. Employers reported that 794 vacancies existed at 30 September 2004. The vacancy rate now stands at 2.34%. This could be considered to be a normal frictional rate, given that there will always be some level of movement due to resignations,...
- Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: I take it the Deputy is referring to the public health care sector, for which employment information is collected by the Department on the basis of the grade of staff and the employing agency, rather than on the basis of the classification of duties requested by the Deputy. The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, HSE, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the...
- Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for diabetic services. Accordingly, the Department has requested the chief officer for the executive's...
- Written Answers — Drug Treatment Programme: Drug Treatment Programme (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, HSE, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for the delivery of drug treatment services. Under the methadone scheme, there is a system in place...
- Written Answers — Health Reports: Health Reports (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: I am aware of the report to which the Deputy refers. Section six of the report comments on the implementation of the National Economic and Social Forum report on equity of access to hospital care. The National Economic and Social Forum fourth periodic report raises several issues, mainly about equity of access to hospital care, in particular the "public private mix" in hospital care. The...
- Written Answers — Cancer Strategy: Cancer Strategy (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The national cancer forum is finalising a new national cancer strategy which is expected to be completed in the spring. The forum, a multidisciplinary group of experts in cancer care, has conducted an extensive consultation process with professional bodies, voluntary organisations and the general public. In developing an organisational model for the delivery of cancer treatment services, the...
- Written Answers — Ambulance Service: Ambulance Service (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for the provision of ambulance services. Accordingly, my Department has requested the chief officer for the...
- Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for the provision of health centres. Accordingly, my Department has requested the chief officer for the...
- Written Answers — Medical Cards: Medical Cards (10 Feb 2005)
Mary Harney: The Health Act 2004 provided for the Health Service Executive, which was established on 1 January 2005. Under the Act, the executive has the responsibility to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. This includes responsibility for the assessment of applications for medical cards. Accordingly, my Department has requested the chief...