Results 3,221-3,240 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information and Patient Safety Bill: Discussion (14 Dec 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I will be brief. I want to get my head straight on the licensing of services. HIQA, therefore, does not have a role in the acute hospital setting. It was said that a particular menu of services would be commissioned, such as knee replacements. The Department of Health sets a standard against which boxes must be ticked. Will it be so prescriptive that two consultants are needed on site to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Civil Liability (Amendment) Bill 2015: Discussion (8 Dec 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I wish to refer to some of the points raised by Deputy Louise O'Reilly. Reference was made to this being a consultant's problem. The question is: who is in charge? I am mindful of the fact that there are recruitment challenges within the HSE and I am seeking the views of the deputations since they represent the people who work in hospitals. Let us suppose a hospital consultant is in...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: EU Directorate-General Economic and Financial Affairs: Discussion (6 Dec 2016)

Kate O'Connell: No.

Cannabis for Medicinal Use (Regulations) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] (1 Dec 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I thank Deputy Gino Kenny for bringing this Bill forward. It is an important step along the road to improving the health care and lives of many of our citizens. I believe the Bill is very well intentioned. Elements of the Bill have my full support, particularly the parts relating to the provision of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of people and to alleviate the pain they are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2016: Discussion (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I apologise for being late but this meeting clashed with another meeting next door. I do not have the gift of bilocation yet. I have quickly read the presentation. I am, by profession, a community pharmacist and I originally come from the midlands. Twelve years ago I worked in both Athlone and Portlaoise at the height of the crisis. Beforehand I spent a short time studying in the UK...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I thank Mr. O'Brien for his presentation. He referred to the cost of equipment and said, to paraphrase, we bought a lot during the boom and it could do with being replaced. Why are we buying equipment? Normal process in businesses is that large plant would be leased and maintained by a service provider. Why is this not common practice in the HSE? I understand some is going on, however it...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: That is not what I am suggesting. We cannot have every hospital group performing complex brain surgery.

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: That is just not possible and we all get it, but Mr. O'Brien has said there were issues in the past. Do we have evidence of this within the 17 groups referred to by the Chairman?

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: What deficiencies were identified? Perhaps we might look at them to see if we could work through them. The matter has been well discussed at this committee and accepted that we cannot have every service provided in every area. That is the principle behind the hospital trusts. Why is it that the population cannot be defined, with specialist treatment services being provided somewhere else?...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: Mr. O'Brien has stated it might be difficult to visualise. None of us has any difficulty in visualising it. Although I do not intend to speak for the committee, we all get the idea that there must be a grade 4 hospital and an academic centre. We cannot just draw straight lines between places. The point is that there is a hospital group, as well as a certain amount of CHOs. The borders...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: What are the impediments that Mr. O'Brien experiences in his position, as opposed to the views of the person who made the decision? Will he list the impediments to getting the borders aligned as they are in the mid-west? How can one transfer funding from an acute setting to a primary care setting if part of the CHO belongs to somebody else? How does one track that money and make sure it...

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: That is not the question I asked. I am asking about the impediments to having the borders aligned.

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: It is not the groups that I want to change but the community health organisation borders so that they will fit, like they do in the mid-west, everywhere. Can we not follow the mid-west example everywhere?

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: The amount of waiting time has been reduced. Will Mr. O'Brien elaborate on that? From where to where has it been reduced and what would Mr. O'Brien see as ideal?

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: Does Mr. O'Brien have a ballpark figure? Have we cut it in half?

Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: It seems strange that Mr. O'Brien would cite it as a positive in his opening statement if he does not actually know any-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Legalisation of Medicinal Cannabis: Discussion (24 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: We will be back in 15 minutes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Legalisation of Medicinal Cannabis: Discussion (24 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. I thank especially Ms Vera Twomey for her attendance. I cannot even imagine what it is like to deal with that number of seizures in a day. I have a family member with epilepsy and have only seen a couple of seizures. It is not an overly pleasant experience and it must be very difficult for her. I am very heartened by the considered...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Legalisation of Medicinal Cannabis: Discussion (24 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: How long ago was it called? Do we have a few minutes? I would just like to say that I have spoken to the Minister and I believe he is very supportive of this. I also believe that the correct procedures must be followed. We do not want any child or adult to have some sort of catastrophic event. The authority's role is to safeguard the supply of medicines and to regulate them. We depend...

Committee on Budgetary Oversight: Post-Budget Analysis: European Anti Poverty Network (22 Nov 2016)

Kate O'Connell: I thank Mr. Ginnell. I am sorry I had to pop out for a second. Regarding the USC, Mr. Ginnell mentioned the steady tax base. Has the EAPN done any work on something that came up at this committee - which both of us have spoken about - to the effect that instead of being abolished, the USC would be channelled into PRSI? Has the EAPN considered that as a way of keeping the base broad but of...