Results 3,401-3,420 of 11,702 for speaker:Colm Burke

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I will return to what Deputy Shortall said about aligning the PPS number and the client identifier number. I am concerned about that and about the timescale. I will give a simple example that happened with me yesterday. Someone had a PPS number that was the same as their husband's, but with the letter "W" added to it. A new PPS number had...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: In this case the person was working for a State agency, and the State agency was not given the new PPS number at any stage. I have looked at the payslips for the past five years. Even though this PPS number had been allocated to this person, their employer, which is a State agency, was not made aware of it. I am concerned about how we are now talking about putting client identifier numbers...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: In this case the person was an employee of the HSE.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: The Department of Social Protection and the Revenue are dealing with this issue and they had not even put their numbers together. The Department has client identifier numbers and is now talking about PPS numbers. I am concerned about the timeframe for getting that done. Are clear targets going to be set out?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: I have a question about maternity services. Four of the maternity hospitals are now totally computerised, as regards patient admission and the whole of patient management. That is in place for the past five years. We are now talking about doing another hospital this year. There are only 19 units across the country. Why can that not be expedited for the remaining units, because at least...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: It is in four.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: Is there a set target for all 19 units to be electronic? The reason it is important is that, for example, there may be a patient in Letterkenny who has to be transferred to Dublin for care. There is that connectivity between the 19 units.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: If one has the electronic records and the other does not, that complicates the issue as well.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: Can we set targets for that area as a prime example? The structure is already there in a number of units, therefore it should be easy to implement in the remaining units.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: The second point I want to raise is the issue relating to the private healthcare sector. How will that be tied in, because a lot of them are already electronic? What about a situation where, for example, someone is in CUH today and then in a private setting in 12 months' time and back into CUH 12 months after that? How are we going to tie all that in?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: I may be wrong about this but at one stage we had something like 1,700 different types of computer systems in the health service. I am not sure what that number is now but that was five years ago. I am sure it has changed somewhat. I keep raising this issue. Denmark started in 1996. About four or five years ago they had 25 different systems and they are working towards having five. If...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: General Scheme of the Health Information Bill 2023: Department of Health (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: I raised the issue of the maternity units and setting targets already. Is that not also important? It seems to be very much drifting without any clear targets, such as a two-year target, a three-year target or a five-year target. I am just wondering whether that can be done in the plan. In fairness to other State agencies, the Department of Social Protection, for example, issued 305,000...

Written Answers — Department of Finance: Tax Collection (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: 51. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will clarify whether the recently approved amendment to the Finance Bill 2023 to apply a zero per cent VAT rate for the supply and installation of solar panels is applicable to trade installers of solar panels or individuals who wish to purchase and install solar panels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21988/23]

Written Answers — Department of Education and Skills: Special Educational Needs (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: 77. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if she will provide an update on the number of places that are available in the ASD class in a school (details supplied) for the 2023-2024 school year; if there are plans to build capacity in the number of places available in ASD classes in the school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21899/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: 196. To ask the Minister for Health the reason a HSE nursing home bed costs €2,585 per week in County Laois, a cost far greater than nursing home beds in any other HSE facility in the country; the reason there is such a difference of over €1,500 from the cost of nursing home beds which are provided by private nursing homes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21981/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: 197. To ask the Minister for Health the reason the increase in the cost of nursing home beds is 10% higher in 2023 compared to 2022, and in view of the fact that private nursing home beds are only 3% higher between 2022 and 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21982/23]

Written Answers — Department of Health: Nursing Homes (10 May 2023)

Colm Burke: 198. To ask the Minister for Health if he will confirm whether his Department has engaged with the HSE with a view to increasing the number of contracted beds in private nursing homes in order to expedite the transfer of patients from hospital to private nursing home care; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21983/23]