Results 27,181-27,200 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. I agree it is imperative that general practice has the capacity we need because we have big ambitions for GP services, particularly as we move to care in the community. In that regard, the number of GPs has increased by about 12% over the past ten years. We need to look at that per capitaas well. The 2019 figures show that we are at 82 GPs per 100,000,...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The short answer is "Yes". The first thing we needed to do was to provide more GP training posts. The change here is very impressive. In 2009, we had 120 people entering GP training. In 2020, we had 233. Step one has seen a very significant increase in the trainee positions. I take the Deputy's point that there is no point training these amazing people to be GPs only to see them leave...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, absolutely, if that is what is required and if that ultimately leads to better care for patients. I do not think we should rule anything out. In terms of the trainees, as I said we are up to 233 this year. Real progress has been made, which is very encouraging. There have been changes. Some of the changes include more flexible GMS contracts, sharing of GMS contracts and GPs allowed...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his question. As he mentioned, emergency department attendances have reached 2019 levels and exceeded them in some places. In 2019, 1.34 million people attended emergency departments and approximately 350,000 of them were admitted. I acknowledge the work of our front-line staff in keeping the emergency departments open throughout the pandemic. Our figures for...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Emergency Departments (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I agree with the Deputy's comments on out-of-hours GP services. As part of winter planning and in the spirit of doing everything we can to help keep people out of hospitals, specifically emergency departments, that is an area that we are examining. The next parliamentary question deals with chronic disease management in the community. I disagree with the Deputy that not a lot is being done....

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: There are 760,394 patients on acute hospital inpatient day case, outpatient and gastrointestinal scope waiting lists, as published by the NTPF. I recognise that a higher figure of more than 900,000 is regularly used and it is important to note that this figure includes just under 150,000 patients who already have scheduled care. The NTPF figure we should be most concerned with is the...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The waiting times for children with scoliosis are not acceptable and they have to be brought down. One of the first places I went when I was appointed as Minister was Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin and I met the orthopaedics team there for exactly this reason. Good efforts have been made and an additional consultant is in place. Things have been greatly exacerbated by Covid, as...

Ceisteanna - Questions - Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I share the Deputy's concern. I had a long call last week with a parent of one kid with serious complications. What the children are going through is unimaginable, as is what the parents are going through as a result. I have told the parents that we will sort this out. We are working directly with CHI to understand exactly what the bottlenecks are. Some of this can be solved through...

Seanad: Sláintecare Implementation: Statements (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank Members for the opportunity to meet with them this evening. We are here to discuss what I believe is one of the most important projects of our time, which is to make universal healthcare a reality in our country and to have a public healthcare system that provides girls and boys, women and men, with great healthcare when they need it. We allocate a great deal of money to healthcare....

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Lung cancer screening is receiving increasing attention and the international evidence in this area continues to build. However, there are currently no nationally organised lung cancer screening programmes worldwide.  Our policy priority continues to be a focus on primary prevention. Because we know that 9 out of 10 lung cancers are caused by tobacco consumption, we...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Government has provided an additional allocation of €250 million in budget 2022, comprised of €200 million to the HSE and €50 million to the National Treatment Purchase Fund, to reduce hospital and community waiting lists. The additional funding provided to the NTPF brings its total allocation for 2022 to €150 million, and as a consequence there will be a...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Overcrowding (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: I am aware that high numbers of ED patients were reported waiting on trolleys for admission in Galway University Hospital in September, with significant congestion in the ED due to high attendances, low patient discharges in the hospital, and a significant number of beds blocked for infection prevention and control measures. I acknowledge the distress that overcrowded Emergency...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Staff (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: There are only a small number of healthcare courses where the students receive allowances to support clinical placements during training. These allowances have been in place for a number of years and based on specific requirements of the individual training program. Radiography students similar to many other healthcare students do not receive an allowance to support time spent on clinical...

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Practitioner Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The HSE takes several factors into consideration when making its annual assessment of the number and type of specialist training places required within each specialty including but not limited to, future medical workforce planning projections, the number currently in training and the training capacity within the health system. Targeted increases across a number of specialist training...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Both Letterkenny and Sligo University Hospitals provide diabetes services for both adult and paediatric patients. Letterkenny University Hospital has one full time Consultant Endocrinologist and one Consultant Physician with a special interest in Diabetes, supported by Clinical Nurse Specialists for adults and paediatrics.  There is one Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioner in the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Waiting Lists (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Sláintecare Implementation Strategy & Action Plan 2021-2023 committed to developing a Multi-Annual Waiting Lists Reduction Plan. My Department, the HSE and the NTPF is working on that Plan to address waiting lists and bring them in line with Sláintecare targets over the coming years. This process will be overseen by a Ministerial Taskforce chaired by the Secretary...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The expansion of the National Newborn Bloodspot Screening Programme is a priority for me. In 2020, I approved the addition of a condition known as ADA-SCID to this programme. The HSE are currently progressing implementation of this expansion, which will bring the total number of conditions screened to nine. Decisions on changes to population-based screening programmes are made on the advice...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: Improving women’s health outcomes is a key priority for me and this Government. As such, I am gratified to see the €31 million euro allocated to women’s health in Budget 2022. This additional funding supplements both the ongoing work of my Department in key areas for women and a specific dedicated allocation for innovative approaches to women’s health services...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Sláintecare Implementation Strategy & Action Plan 2021-2023 was approved by the Government in May 2021. The six-month progress report, published last month, indicated that of the 112 deliverables, 109 were on track or progressing with minor challenges. I would expect that progress would continue at pace in 2022, supported by the allocation in Budget 2022 of €21...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (19 Oct 2021)

Stephen Donnelly: The Department of Health is working with the HSE to increase acute capacity in hospitals throughout the country. The Government allocated €236 million revenue and €40 million capital expenditure as part of Budget 2021 to fund 1,146 additional acute beds over and above the number of beds available on 1 January 2020 on a permanent basis by the end of 2021. The number of beds...