Results 2,381-2,400 of 9,393 for speaker:Alex White

Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services Provision (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I am taking this matter on behalf of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue for discussion. As Deputy Lynch has indicated on several occasions in the past, the HSE has been reconfiguring mental health services in the Carlow, Kilkenny and south Tipperary, CKST, area to provide a modern mental health service in line with the...

Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services Provision (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: That will certainly be done. The Minister of State, Deputy Lynch, will do so. I reassure the Deputy and the House in respect of the apprehension that reports could be prepared and concluded with no action taken. Following the completion of the QPS audit in 2013, the HSE mental health division has been progressing the implementation of those recommendations. As well as the two examples I...

Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services Provision (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I thank both Deputies for raising the issue for discussion. The Government has prioritised the reform of mental health services in line with A Vision for Change and is committed, in particular, to the delivery of more and better quality care in the community. To this end, funding of €70 million and 890 posts were provided to develop community mental health services in 2012 and 2013....

Topical Issue Debate: Mental Health Services Provision (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I thank the Deputies for their contributions. I understand Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl's point that sometimes people's eyes glaze over when figures are provided. Behind the figures, however, lies a considerable improvement in the real and actual experiences of people who need the services. For example, where more staff and resources are provided, even though we describe them to...

Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I very much take on board what Deputies Paudie Coffey and Ciara Conway have said about this matter and the urgency attached to it. The closing date in respect of the third vacant post is tomorrow and the HSE hopes to recruit two consultants under this process. The matter is being addressed as urgently as is required and I accept what the Deputies said. On the future of dermatology services...

Topical Issue Debate: Hospital Consultants Recruitment (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I thank the Deputies for raising the issue and for affording me the opportunity to advise the House of the arrangements made for patients requiring dermatological services at UHW. I assure the House that the HSE and the South-South West Hospitals Group are committed to ensuring the continuation of dermatology services for people in the south east, notwithstanding the temporary staffing and...

Other Questions: Primary Care Centre Provision (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The Deputy is correct. He has raised this issue previously. I will revert to him on it today or tomorrow at the latest, as I know the issue. I welcome his general support for primary care centres. In recent weeks, the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and I have had the honour of opening additional primary care centres in different parts of the country. One could see the value their communities...

Other Questions: Medical Card Reviews (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The current eligibility system for health services, which has been in place since 1970, is based primarily on financial criteria. The Government has decided to develop a policy framework for providing eligibility for health services to take account of medical conditions. This will include new legislation, as appropriate, and a HSE clinical expert group to examine the range of conditions...

Other Questions: Medical Card Reviews (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The determination of the basis for the awarding of medical cards on medical grounds, as opposed to means grounds, which has been the case since 1970, will be dealt with absolutely comprehensively through the expert panel. If we are to determine a basis for awarding a medical card where a person has a medical condition or an illness then there must be some basis for determining what that will...

Other Questions: Medical Card Reviews (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The human situation that the Deputy describes is extremely frustrating. I understand what the Deputy is saying - I imagine all Members understand. The Government is now dealing with the issue of access to services. I am referring to necessary access that people with medical conditions and illnesses must have, even if they are over the means test limit. All Governments have been sticking...

Other Questions: Primary Care Centre Provision (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective of delivering a high-quality, integrated and cost-effective health system. Primary care infrastructure is being delivered through three mechanisms: direct build, a leasing initiative and a public private partnership initiative announced in the July 2012 infrastructure stimulus package. The development of primary care...

Other Questions: Medical Card Reviews (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The current eligibility system for health services, which has been in place since 1970, is based primarily on financial criteria. The Government has decided to develop a policy framework for eligibility for health services to take account of medical conditions, including new legislation as appropriate, and a HSE clinical expert group is to examine the range of conditions that should be...

Other Questions: Medical Card Reviews (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: In the first instance, it is not proposed to issue refunds in these circumstances. This problem will ultimately be resolved only through a change in the legislative basis for awarding medical cards. The Government has now set in train a process to achieve that intended outcome. With regard to the speed at which this will happen, the HSE is working as quickly as possible to contact those...

Other Questions: Medical Card Reviews (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I understand the Deputy's point, but the cards were removed for proper legal reasons. I am not saying that did not affect the individuals concerned. In terms of the actual position of the time, the HSE applied the law correctly. As legislators, we are trying to change the law. People often ask us why we cannot change the law if it is against us on a particular issue. We are setting out...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Long-Term Illness Scheme Eligibility (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The long-term illness scheme, LTI, was established under section 59(3) of the Health Act 1970. Regulations were made in 1971, 1973 and 1975 specifying the conditions covered by the LTI scheme. The conditions covered by the LTI scheme are as follows: acute leukaemia; mental handicap; cerebral palsy; mental illness in a person under 16; cystic fibrosis; multiple sclerosis; diabetes insipidus;...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Long-Term Illness Scheme Eligibility (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The very real situation faced by people, mentioned by the Deputy, who have a long-term illness or medical condition and are above the means-test limit for a medical card, will be addressed in the new policy shift signalled by the Minister, Deputy Reilly, and the Government last week, which is based on a review by an expert panel, and a paper and decisions in Government later this year. This...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Long-Term Illness Scheme Eligibility (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The expert panel has been formed under the chairmanship of Professor Frank Keane. The panel contains an extensive number of experienced health professionals. We will leave the work on determining whether it is lists or conditions to that expert panel in the first instance. As I understand it - I do not want to mislead the House - I believe the terms of reference are currently being...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Prescription Charges (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: Persons suffering from prescribed conditions can get free drugs, medicines and medical and surgical appliances for the treatment of the conditions under the long-term illness scheme. Medical card holders are required to pay prescription charges. Prescription charges are not payable in respect of items supplied under the long-term illness scheme. In the case of persons who have both a...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Prescription Charges (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: The HSE has undertaken to expedite this matter as quickly as possible. As I indicated, it is hoped and anticipated that this will be done in the coming weeks. That is the position and, as the Deputy rightly said, it is related to the fact that people were paying GMS prescription charges they would not have had to pay if they had been able to use the LTI scheme book. The issue has been...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions: Prescription Charges (25 Jun 2014)

Alex White: I will revert to the Deputy on that matter. The decision was made and announced by the Minister last July. I have indicated that this matter will be dealt with in respect of prescription charges charged prior to 1 December 2013. Pprescription charges were introduced in 2010. I will revert to the Deputy with the further details he is seeking. The matter is being expedited by the HSE.