Results 8,681-8,700 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Vaccination Programme (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Covid-19, influenza and pneumonia vaccines are currently available to certain groups of adults most vulnerable to a severe outcome from these diseases. This is available as part of the adult immunisation programme. The immunisation programme is based on the advice of the national immunisation advisory committee, NIAC. NIAC considers the prevalence of the relevant disease, as well as...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ukraine War (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy and acknowledge his own work. He is part of the seven-person team in the University College Dublin, UCD, trauma project, the initiative led by UCD professors Gerard Bury and Chris Fitzpatrick. Professor Fitzpatrick and I have been going back and forth on this project for some time. I know that the Deputy was involved in training for 100 personnel and that the visit...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ukraine War (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. I had the easy job; he had to go to Ukraine and work on the ground, so I thank him. As I said to Professor Fitzpatrick, if the UCD team is looking to go out again and needs that support, the State and the Department of Health will certainly not be found wanting. We have an allocation this year, and a similar one next year, of €50 million to provide services. It...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Ukraine War (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: That is very clear; they will have my full support to keep going with this. As for some of the other supports that have been provided so far, 23 decommissioned ambulances are fully kitted out, loaded with additional medical supplies and ready to use. There are more than 7,000 blood bags and reagents from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service and nearly 6,000 items of medical equipment and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I agree that the waiting times for scoliosis and spina bifida surgeries are not acceptable. I am conscious of the pain, suffering and anguish that are caused to the children and young adults who are waiting and to their families. For this reason, I committed €19 million in 2022 and 2023 to tackling these lists. Our goal is clear; it is to...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I assure the Deputy, the House and, more important, the people who are waiting for the surgery and their families that a lot of activity is taking place. The resources are in place. The Taoiseach and I met advocacy groups recently. They put many important issues on the table. There is better engagement now. We are looking through a list of actions they asked to be looked at. The Deputy...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Hospital Waiting Lists (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The short answer is "Yes". Clinicians are cautious about that option. It happened before. Children went to Germany before the Covid-19 pandemic. Clinicians are not opposed to that but they urge caution because these surgeries tend not to be a single episode in a theatre. Ongoing care is required and multiple surgeries can be required. Nonetheless, we are looking at what is called...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Strategies (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy very much for his support for the stroke strategy. I think we can agree that our healthcare professionals are making important progress on behalf of patients and families. As a result of the work over the last ten years, deaths from the most common form of stroke have fallen by nearly 30%, which is very welcome. The average length of stay for patients has fallen a lot as...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Strategies (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I think we are going to be having different versions of this conversation throughout the next hour and a half, based on the questions the Deputy has tabled, which I fully appreciate. As to whether there is a level of funding for new development next year at the scale there is for this year, there is not. We will not be expanding these services next year at the pace we expanded them this...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Strategies (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We will probably be repeating ourselves a bit this morning. There is not the level of funding next year for the same pace of roll-out of the strategy that I and the Deputy would like to see. However, there is significant funding in there to enhance services. We are both agreed that safe staffing makes a difference. It makes a difference to patients and that includes stroke patients. That...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Strategies (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Promoting awareness and early recognition of sepsis are key elements of the HSE’s National Sepsis Programme. While the initial priority of the Programme was raising awareness among healthcare staff, the focus has since moved the community. To support this, the Programme developed several patient focused resources, along with educational and clinical management resources for...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Care (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Following the announcement of the budget allocation for my Department, I will shortly be issuing a Letter of Determination to the HSE outlining my priorities and funding levels for 2024. This will be the basis on which the HSE will draw up its National Service Plan (NSP) for 2024. It is not until the conclusion of this process that a detailed breakdown of New Developments expenditure will be...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Community Care (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Since the July 2023 review of HSE Injury Units (July 2023), 12 units under acute governance operate on a 7 day per week basis, including Monaghan Hospital which expanded to a 7-day basis since July 2023. A new injury unit was opened in Mullingar in December 2022 and by this August there were approximately 600 presentations per month. Between January and August this year, over 110,000 patients...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Disease Management (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare, life-long genetic condition which causes fragile, blistering skin. I fully recognise and appreciate the difficulties experienced by patients suffering from this painful condition. There are approximately 300 patients in Ireland with EB, with around 60 new patients annually. Children with EB are cared for at the multidisciplinary clinic in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Strategies (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Cancer services are a top priority for this Government, and this is shown by the unprecedented funding allocated to the National Cancer Strategy in recent years. Over 2021 and 2022 I secured €40 million in funding for the Strategy, supporting the recruitment of approximately 360 staff to date in cancer services, and €30 million in funding for new cancer drugs. What this...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Equipment (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Monaghan Hospital and Cavan General Hospital operate as a single entity, with an integrated managerial and clinical governance system, care pathways and support functions. Monaghan Hospital is focused on elective care and the streaming of appropriate patients to the Minor Injuries Unit. The HSE advises that Cavan & Monaghan Hospital has two operating CT scanners and one MRI...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Overcrowding (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 23 and 26 together. Urgent and Emergency Care pressures are no longer just experienced during winter periods and prolonged levels of high daily presentations and congestion are now being experienced throughout the year. While significant investment has been driven through Winter Planning and National Service Plans over the past three years, a new approach to...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Primary Care Centres (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: A central objective of the Programme for Government is to deliver increased levels of integrated health care, with service delivery reoriented towards general practice, primary care and community-based services to enable a “home first” approach. Primary Care Centres play an essential role in the delivery of that objective and significant progress has been made in the delivery...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Overcrowding (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Virtual Ward is a flexible and integrated model of care provision, clinically led through a blend of medical and advanced nurse practice governance. The care is enabled by remote monitoring technology, clear patient care pathways and robust escalation protocols. Following successful proof of concept tests in Beaumont Hospital and CHO Dublin North City and County, and more recently in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medical Cards (9 Nov 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Under the GMS scheme, GP services are provided without charge to GMS patients, people who hold a medical card or GP visit card. The terms of the GMS contract set out that GPs are required to provide eligible patients with ''all proper and necessary treatment" that is usually undertaken by a GP and which does not require specialist skill or experience that the GP cannot reasonably be expected...