Results 12,941-12,960 of 49,836 for speaker:Stephen Donnelly

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Nobody should be waiting in hospital for that length of time unless there is a clinical reason for them to require ongoing acute care. There has been a very significant increase in hospital beds but there has also been a very significant increase in community beds.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Thank you Deputy. I want to express my own sympathies to the Murphy family. It was heartbreaking listening to Vivienne's family and what happened to her. My sincere sympathies are with her family and friends. It was just an awful situation. As the Taoiseach said in the Chamber yesterday, there might be some additional training we can look at regarding the recognition of strep A and the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We will be providing a lot more detail in the coming days about various projects, including the paediatric unit. I fully support the project. I have met with the team at CUH several times on this. I can tell you that it will be an appendix 2 of the capital plan meaning there is funding there to progress detailed design and so forth. There is planning as the Deputy says, which CUH rightly...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There are a few different aspects to this. The first is that, as the Deputy said earlier, new capacity is being put in place. For example, he and I were at the new facility that is going to be used for dementia patients. The view is that there are many dementia patients stuck in beds in CUH and this will be a much more appropriate and modern facility for them. That kind of thing is...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Riverstick nursing home is now taking patients from both Mercy hospital and CUH. That is helping. The clinicians in CUH are certainly saying it has been a great help. More needs to be done. If there are integration issues between acute and community facilities, I will take that up with the new chief executive. It is not something we can have. Obviously, one of the reasons we are moving...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Perhaps the Deputy would send me on the details. I will ask the HSE for a review.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I fully agree with the Deputy that the current situation is not acceptable. It was not acceptable before Covid and Covid made it worse. In answering the question about CAMHS, we have to broaden out to mental health. I know the Deputy focuses on this area, so he will be aware that CAMHS is for children facing the most acute problems. As the psychiatrists point out to me, part of the...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: That is right. I fully agree. The Deputy will be aware that only 2% of young people referred for mental health supports actually need CAMHS. We spend 90% of our time talking about CAMHS but it is actually for only 2% of the population. There is some good news in that more than 90% of urgent referrals are seen within three days. That is important. However, as we have discussed, more is...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There is clearly an issue in that CHO. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, has been involved in that. Rather than saying something on the public record that might be unfair to some of the people involved, I might ask her to revert to the Deputy or meet with him to discuss the specific issues and, most importantly, the solutions in CHO 4. There is a long-standing issue there. The number...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy. The national service plan is live and has been signed off. These are the Revised Estimates behind the national service plan. I will ask the officials to get the specifics for the Deputy. We might get those specifics during this session or if not, we will revert to him with the exact numbers.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Those are very specific service areas. May I revert to the Deputy with a detailed briefing?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Deputy.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Is that for gastric band surgery?

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: I thank the Chair. He has cut to the chase about the areas where our focus is and must be. We must prioritise the long waiters, particularly children who are waiting a long time. Let me go through some of the things we are doing that are in the Estimates. Some of the Chairman's questions fall outside the Estimates and I will come to them. He spoke about a gentleman in need of...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: The 1,500-bed accelerated plan is still working its way through Government. This is an additional project that is not included in the Estimates before us. It requires a lot of extra money. I fully agree with the Deputy’s statement that it takes too long to build things in this country when we have to adhere to the public spending code. The public spending code has, I think, 17...

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: That has not been decided. My ask is that the relatively modest amount of enabling capital required be found this year. The much more substantial amount would have to form part of the Estimates process. That is the plan and it has been well received in Government but it is an ongoing process.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: There is an estimated ballpark capital figure of €800 million to €1 billion. Then, as the Deputy quite rightly said-----

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: In theory, we would love to see it in one budget because that would mean we would build all 1,500 beds next year but-----

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: Yes. It is more likely to be over several years. I would be very surprised if it were possible to do it one year. In the last three years, we have put in place about 970 beds. That is the fastest that beds have been put in place in a long time. Even with rapid build, dropping 1,500 beds in during one year would be a lot.

Select Committee on Health: Estimates for Public Services 2023
Vote 38 - Health (Further Revised) (19 Apr 2023)

Stephen Donnelly: We are working through that but we have to keep the focus on the fact that this is not meant to be a long-term or five-year project.