Results 12,741-12,760 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Abortion Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Deputy can read into that what he wants. It will be made available very shortly. Let us wait until we have the report before we get into operational and legislative recommendations. Regardless of the report, which is a good one, the core focus for me and the HSE concerning the provision of services is increasing the number of maternity hospitals that are providing services. That...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: Health Strategies (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The short answer is "Yes, and a consolidated plan". I fully agree. The Deputy and I have discussed this several times. We already have several multi-annual plans in place. The core infrastructural plan is the 2018 capacity review, which gives us targets, agreed by everyone in the House, for acute beds, critical care beds, nursing home beds, elective capacity and so forth. The Deputy will...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for the question. As we are all aware, universal healthcare is something we are all signed up to through Sláintecare and are committed to very strongly in the programme for Government, and this is a core element of that. One of the three tests of universal healthcare is that care is either free or affordable for everybody who needs to use it. As the Deputy and...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy for his reply and I do not disagree with his analysis at all. It is frustrating to me that we did not bring it in this month. The Deputy is absolutely correct in that this was the plan and that was what we budgeted for and what we wanted to achieve. The GP community asked us to wait and the choice was to proceed, which we could have done in spite of that, or to give the...

Ceisteanna ar Sonraíodh Uain Dóibh - Priority Questions: General Practitioner Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes, it will. The Deputy will be aware that we are kicking off a strategic review of GP practice. It is based on a report that was published not long ago on the future of general practice. We accept that report. A team is being put in place now and I have appointed three GPs to the team to ensure that the voice of the doctor is very much front and centre on that. Essentially, the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Pharmacy Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Department of Health recognizes the key role of Pharmacy in the Community, and the ongoing significant contribution made by this sector to patients and the public, particularly during the pandemic. My department is actively considering the potential role that pharmacy may play in the development and implementation of future healthcare reform, especially in regard to the aims and...

Written Answers — Department of Health: General Practitioner Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Irish model of general practice is based on private practice, and all GPs providing GP services in Ireland currently are private practitioners. The HSE does not directly employ GPs for the provision of GP services. There are approximately three and a half thousand GPs working in Ireland at the moment. Of these, over 2,500 GPs hold a General Medical Scheme (GMS) contract with the HSE...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 19 together. A top priority for Government is to increase access to health services. The record growth in the health budget over successive budgets coupled with the expansion of the workforce is evidence of this commitment. We are delivering this increased access through an unprecedented expansion in the capacity of our public health service in...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Legislative Reviews (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: As the Deputy is aware, the Review of the operation of the Health(Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 commenced in line with statutory and Government commitments in December 2021. The purpose of the Review was to assess the effectiveness of the operation of the legislation. The Review comprised two phases. The first phase of the Review was an evidence and information...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The Dental Treatment Services Scheme provides care to adult medical holders over 16 years. In April 2020 there were 1651 DTSS contractors registered on the Scheme. This declined to 1253 in April 2022. I approved measures from May 2022 providing for increased preventative care and increasing the fees paid to dentists for most treatment items by 40-60%. This has improved access, and both the...

Written Answers — Department of Health: National Treatment Purchase Fund (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The 2023 Waiting List Action Plan was published on 7th March and is the next stage of the multi-annual approach to reduce and reform waiting lists and times. It allocates €363 million in funding across 30 actions to be implemented by the HSE and NTPF to reduce acute scheduled care waiting lists by 10% this year and to continue implementing long-term reforms. Under the Plan,...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Healthcare Infrastructure Provision (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: As a response to the pandemic residents from St. Patrick’s Hospital were moved to facilities on Our Lady’s Hospital campus in June 2020, now named Cashel Residential Services. This is registered under HIQA for 3 years from June 2020. The three-year registration is now due for renewal and HSE are engaged with HIQA regarding reregistration. I, my Department and the HSE are...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Tests (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The public health advice is that testing for COVID-19 is no longer recommended for most of the population. Self-referral for PCR testing and ordering of antigen tests by the general public is closed. Routine serial testing in long-term residential care facilities has finished although it is available when necessary for managing an outbreak. Testing continues in acute settings according...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Covid-19 Pandemic (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Despite all the progress in relation to COVId19, I am very aware that Long COVID is still causing suffering. To ensure that people who need care have access to it, the HSE is currently implementing a plan to provide Long COVID services nationally. The investment in this service has trebled in 2023 to 6.6 million euro. Many patients with symptoms of Long Covid are successfully managed by...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Medicinal Products (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: As a painkiller codeine is most often used in combination with other analgesics such as paracetamol or ibuprofen. But there is a potential for misuse. Codeine is therefore a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Acts 1977 and 1984. Low dose preparations are regulated as a Schedule 5 controlled drug. Medicinal products that contain low doses of codeine are available without a medical...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Dental Services (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I have met with Minster Harris and have requested significant increases in the number of dentists we train to address dental workforce capacity issues. The Higher Education Authority is undertaking a process to identify a set of options for Government from higher education institutions interested in building capacity in Dentistry, among other areas. Aligned with Departmental policy regarding...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Firstly, I would like to acknowledge the important role that Section 39 organisations and staff play in our health sector. They have a key role in providing services to people with disabilities and older people. A process of engagement to examine the pay of workers in Community and Voluntary organisations was committed to by the Government in October 2022 during the Private Members...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Roscommon University Hospital currently has a 12 bed Surgical Day Ward, which is co-located with a medical inpatient ward. It is proposed to relocate the Surgical Day ward in an area adjacent to the Operating Theatre and Endoscopy Unit. As part of this proposal, it is planned that the vacated surgical day ward area in its current location would be used to increase medical inpatient beds. A...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Hospital Facilities (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I am pleased to confirm that the Strategic Assessment Report reviews by my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Review and Reform, for the proposed Emergency Department, Women & Children’s block at UHG, have been completed. On 29 March 2023, Minister O’Donohoe updated and shortened the Public Spending Code for capital investments. The SAR stage has...

Written Answers — Department of Health: Health Services Staff (20 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There has been significant progress made in relation to enhancements to our Public Health workforce. As agreed between the Department of Health, the HSE and the IMO in April 2021, a fully reformed model for public health including 84 Consultant posts is being implemented on a phased basis. The first phase, recruitment of 34 WTE posts at Consultant in Public Health Medicine level, is...