Results 38,581-38,600 of 46,260 for speaker:Simon Harris

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

Simon Harris: That is the closest I will ever get to a compliment from Deputy Kelly. It started off well but I wanted to start off well because I did not want to dismiss the Deputy's idea. There is merit in scoping out this issue. Discussions would be needed on the type of procedures, how it would work, how we would make sure we do not divert resources from public hospitals, and how we make sure that we...

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

Simon Harris: Of course the Deputy knows it is more complicated than just making that decision. We have to look at what we would like to do in the private hospitals rather than what would be done.

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

Simon Harris: I do not think he is suggesting that we would replicate the way decisions were made about banking debt in regard to health policy.

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

Simon Harris: We can all learn collective lessons in that regard. When we are talking about this winter and any winter, we should not only talk about the hospital solution. I will examine the Deputy's idea. There is merit in what he said. We also need to examine why people are turning up in our hospitals given that such patients would not turn up in hospitals in other countries. That is down to a...

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

Simon Harris: We have put €40 million behind it. It is my job to make sure that taxpayers and patients see benefits from that. We cannot just say to the HSE, "here is €40 million", and not expect to see an improvement. I want to drive that improvement but I will engage with the Deputy further on this because he raised an important point.

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: HSE National Service Plan (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I thank the Deputy for his question. As provided for under the Health Act 2004, as amended, my Department must write to the Health Service Executive to notify it of its allocation for 2017 not later than 21 days after the publication by the Government of the Estimates for Public Services. The legislation further provides that, on receipt of the letter of determination, the HSE has 21 days...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: HSE National Service Plan (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: I agree largely with what the Deputy has said, but I must acknowledge a few points. The confidence and supply agreement is not a document that is meant to be introduced in one budget, and I know the Deputy's party recognises that point. It is something for a period of three budgets and is then to be reviewed, so obviously it cannot all be delivered in budget one. There also needs to be an...

Ceisteanna - Questions (resumed) - Priority Questions: HSE National Service Plan (18 Oct 2016)

Simon Harris: The Deputy would acknowledge that both the HSE and my Department have provided and will provide any and all information needed to the committee. We are very eager to do that, but I would not want him to think that we are in any way bored or waiting for this report. We are driving on with trying to make a number of improvements in the health service. The Deputy will see funding to take on...

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...