Results 16,641-16,660 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Human Rights Issues: Human Rights Issues (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy may be aware that there is a case currently before the Irish Courts concerning an application by a transgendered person to have an alteration made in a birth registration. In the circumstances, I do not propose to comment further until such time as the Courts have completed their deliberations and issued findings.

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: It is a matter for the Health Service Executive, as part of its management of its employment ceiling, to determine the appropriate staffing mix required to deliver its service plan priorities. I have consistently emphasised the importance of prioritising the filling of front line vacancies in complying with approved employment levels. I have also emphasised the need to achieve an appropriate...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Infectious Diseases. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HPSC, collects data on MRSA as part of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System, EARSS. This system collects data on the first episode of bloodstream infection per patient per quarter. The Irish data showed that there were 445 cases in 2002, 480 cases in 2003, 553 cases in 2004, 586 cases in 2005 and 285 reported cases in the first...

Infectious Diseases. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The Deputy has a number of questions. The survey among different countries was a sample study of some 75,000 patients, 10% of whom were Irish. It was significant that our rates were much lower. I am not boasting about that, but simply pointing out that this is not often the message we hear. The Deputy asked whether I agreed that these matters were preventable. Unfortunately, they are...

Infectious Diseases. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Hygiene has a factor to play in all of this, but the biggest contribution is made by the over-prescription of antibiotics. We must not forget that, as all the very strong evidence suggests, this is what has made our immune system so vulnerable to acquiring all kinds of infections, particularly in the developed world. Hygiene is still a factor and hospitals should be run to the highest...

Ambulance Service. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The role and purpose of the ambulance service is to provide a clinically appropriate and timely pre-hospital care and transportation service. Pre-hospital emergency care and transportation services are provided as an integral part of the continuum of care for patients. The Department of Health and Children has been advised by the HSE that there was a significant growth in demand for patient...

Ambulance Service. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Deputy Cowley is always outraged. Every time I reply to his questions, I get the same response. Last year, the HSE received an extra €1 billion, a 10% increase in resource allocation. I do not divvy up these moneys as autonomy and authority for them are vested in the HSE as a result of an Act passed by the House. It is the HSE's responsibility to use that money to provide for the...

Ambulance Service. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: That was July 2005. It is now almost 2007. Much more money since then has gone into the system.

Ambulance Service. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Unlike Deputy Cowley, I am a full-time politician totally devoted to health reform. In addition to his parliamentary role, the Deputy is a practising GP with a large practice in the west. If he does not mind me saying so, he sometimes confuses those two roles. I am sure what he is saying will sound great on local radio tomorrow but the reality is that this country's increase in expenditure...

Hospital Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Roscommon County Hospital and Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe are closely linked and many consultant appointments are shared between the two hospitals. The HSE aims to maximise the range and volume of surgery and other services in each of the two hospitals by developing greater collaboration between them. This is designed to increase access by patients in Roscommon and east Galway-west...

Hospital Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Surgical activity was of a low volume at both these hospitals. In the case of Roscommon County Hospital, I understand there were as few as two to four procedures per week. The only way to ensure a safe environment for treatment is to maintain the skill base of surgeons through higher volume activity. As has happened in County Louth, for example, Roscommon County Hospital and Portiuncula...

Hospital Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Both those facilities now have a far higher volume of activity and shorter patient waiting times. Developments have taken place that it was previously believed would never occur. Provision has been made for a CAT scanner in Roscommon County Hospital and all the other developments to which the Deputy referred are proceeding. I understand the two consultants to whom the Deputy made reference...

Hospital Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: I believe it is true. I am not certain they worked in both hospitals but I understand they were appointed to both places.

Hospital Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: I said in my response that the new appointments would be to both hospitals. In other words, they will share anaesthetic and surgical staff and there will effectively be a single department operating on two sites. Subject to correction, I believe such posts were in the past appointed to both hospitals but it may not have operated in this way for training and other reasons. The main issue of...

Hospital Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: We are seeking to organise hospital services based on the need for patient safety. Procedures will continue to take place in a particular environment where it is safe for them to do so. Where it is unsafe for them to continue, there must be change. I have pointed on many occasions recently to the example of breast surgery. In 2003, the last year for which we have figures, of the 1,800...

Primary Care Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: The primary care strategy is the roadmap for the future development of primary care services in Ireland over a period of ten years, both as the appropriate service for the delivery of the majority of people's health and social care needs and to complement the services provided by acute hospitals. At the heart of the strategy is the aim of developing services in the community to give people...

Primary Care Services. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: Taking the last question first, we have increased the number of training posts by, I believe, approximately 17 this year. The college was not able to deal with anymore. I hope we can increase that further next year and provision is being made to do so. A number of general practitioners are prohibited under an industrial relations agreement with the Irish Medical Organisation to practice as...

Hospitals Building Programme. (1 Nov 2006)

Mary Harney: A review of tertiary paediatric services carried out by McKinsey & Company on behalf of the Health Service Executive, HSE, recommended the establishment of a single tertiary paediatric hospital in Dublin, co-located with a leading adult academic hospital. Subsequently, a joint HSE-Department of Health and Children task group was established to advise on the optimum location of the proposed...