Results 38,561-38,580 of 46,232 for speaker:Simon Harris

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I appreciate Deputy Brassil asking this question because it provides me with an opportunity to provide once-and-for-all clarity on the misinformation that is being spread by some on this. Not only will I be implementing in full the decisions taken earlier by my predecessor, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Varadkar, I will be implementing them to the last letter, the last full stop...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I could not agree more. As Deputy Brassil will be aware, in the rest of the English speaking world the title of physical therapist and physiotherapist are interchangeable and their users are qualified physiotherapists. We have excellent physiotherapists in this country and I want to protect their title. In Ireland, however, the title is also used by a number of practitioners who are not...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Health Services Staff (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I sincerely thank Deputy Brassil. This is an important issue for many professionals working throughout the country. It is an issue of public safety, and patient safety as well. We as a country have done a lot of work in recent years in terms of patient safety, the establishment of CORU and ensuring patients know exactly what they are accessing in terms of qualifications when they use a...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Accident and Emergency Departments (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The short answer is yes. The Deputy raises an important issue in terms of trying to ensure we have parity of access to our health services for all patients. We have seen in other waiting list areas where we have, through State expenditure, supported our patients accessing health services. My commitment is to beef up the public health service, but we must also acknowledge where there is...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The main role of the national ambulance service is to respond to emergency 999 or 112 calls. It also provides an interhospital transfer service through the intermediate care service. There is a significant requirement for transfers of non-urgent patients for various clinical reasons, including transfers between hospitals, between residential and acute settings and transfers for...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The HSE is carrying out a policy review and it will be able to advise me on whether these services represent value for money. It is about more than value for money. At the moment the service is essential. We need our public ambulances, our national ambulance service and Dublin fire brigade ambulances to pick up emergency cases and answer the 999 or 112 calls. In 2015, there were 308,000...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: It might upset the Deputy to know that I agree with her on this.

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: Ambulance Service Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I want to see investment in the public ambulance service and a reduction in reliance on private ambulance services. The Lightfoot report on capacity states that, even if we put in place all the extra ambulances and all the extra paramedics, we will still not have adequate provision in this country because of the geographic dispersal of our population. We need to invest in the national...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to a decisive shift towards primary care to provide better care close to home for communities around the country. Primary Care Centres are an integral part of this because of the range of multi-disciplinary services they can provide and the role they can play in keeping people who don't need to be in an acute setting out of hospital. All...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospitals Building Programme (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: Galway University Hospitals comprise of University Hospital Galway (UHG), a model 4 tertiary referral centre, and Merlin Park Hospital, a model 2 hospital, both located in the city of Galway. A number of significant projects have been completed in UHG in recent years. These include the Clinical Research Facility, the upgrade of the Maternity Unit and the CF out-patient department. In...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: A key challenge for our health system is to ensure that patients have timely access to health services, in light of increasing demand. This Government is committed to a sustained focus on improving wait times, particularly for those waiting longest. The key issue is how long they wait. According to the September waiting list data published by the NTPF, 78% of patients on the outpatient...

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Practitioner Contracts (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The development of primary care is central to the Government's objective to deliver a high-quality, integrated and cost effective health service. The Programme for Government commits to a decisive shift within the health service towards primary care in order to deliver better care close to home in communities across the country. The development of a new, modernised contract for the provision...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Accident and Emergency Departments (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: Pressures on Emergency Departments in general have been rising, as the population is both growing and aging. The HSE has reported an overall increase of approx. 5% in patient attendances at EDs nationally this year and an increase of 2% in attendances at the ED in the Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise. It is essential that in the coming winter, every effort is made by hospitals to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Performance Management Systems (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The HSE Performance and Accountability Framework makes explicit the responsibilities of health service managers in relation to the four equally important domains of Access to Services, Quality and Safety of those Services, delivery within the Financial Resources available and effectively harnessing the efforts of the Workforce. The Framework ensures that designated managers are explicitly and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Maternity Services Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The National Women & Infants Health Programmewill lead the implementation of Ireland's first National Maternity Strategy - Creating A Better Future Together 2016 - 2026.The Programme will scope out the multiprofessional staffing requirement for the new model of care proposed, and prepare a workforce plan to build capacity, and a training needs analysis to build capability, to deliver...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund Waiting Times (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: Since 2012 as a matter of policy, the National Treatment Purchase Fund ensures that clinicians contracted or employed by private hospitals do not receive remuneration for the treatment of the same patient from both the referring public hospital, by way of salary, and from the treating private hospital, by way of a fee. I am advised by the NTPF that this is explicitly prohibited in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: As this question relates to service matters, I have arranged for the question to be referred to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for direct reply to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Department of Health: Maternity Services Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I propose to take Questions Nos. 44, 67, 78, 86 and 101 together. The HSE National Service Plan 2016 commits to the planning and development of equitable access to antenatal anomaly screening in all maternity units in the context of emerging maternity networks.In addition, the National Maternity Strategy is clear that all women must have equal access to standardised ultrasound services. The...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Services (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: In relation to the specific query raised by the Deputy, as this is a service matter I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly.

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Practitioner Services Provision (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: General Practitioners contracted under the General Medical Services Scheme must make suitable arrangements to enable contact to be made with them, or a locum/deputy, for emergencies outside normal practice hours. While there is no obligation on GPs to participate in GP out-of-hours cooperatives as a means of meeting the contractual requirement, such services have been developed and expanded...