Results 501-520 of 3,336 for speaker:Kate O'Connell

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: In terms of employment rights, is a dodgy situation emerging whereby, since the NTA is contracting in and paying the bill, those people can claim that they have pension entitlements or that they are permanent staff because they have been sitting there for ten years?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Yesterday, information emerged regarding a similar situation in respect of hospital consultants whereby cuts did not realise savings. Is there aggravation between the NTA's staff because, for example, someone is costing twice as much as the person sitting beside him or her? Is that a HR issue or is no one very concerned?

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Ms Graham is happy enough with the situation. Mr. Gaston mentioned the list of cards to be blocked that the NTA gets. Is that list anonymised? He did not mention whether it was.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The number on the PSC is coded to the reference number that the NTA gets. The NTA cannot put that number into any machine and find out that it equates to me, for example.

Public Accounts Committee: 2018 Financial Statements of the National Transport Authority (10 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank the witnesses for their time.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I thank all of the witnesses for coming in this morning and for the work that they do, which is to safeguard public health and to ensure that standards are correct. On the reasons-for-leaving element of the survey, was it a tick box or was it a fill-it-in-as one-desires section on the form? How were the data analysed? Was there a written explanation as to why they left or was it a choice...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: It was mentioned that of the 23,000 practitioners registered, the level of complaints has remained static over the past three years. Do we have a larger picture, because the shedding of consultants from the Irish system started in 2008 to 2009, roughly speaking? Have we a picture of the past ten years rather than the past three years? What I am trying to get at is that as many consultants...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: The research gives no figures then for professional misconduct for-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Those would be interesting to see if - there is no "if" about it, it is a fact - where doctors left, there was a gap then in the service and if there was a subsequent rise in-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I am trying to find out about the impact on patients. The State Claims Agency last year paid out €3 billion, which I believe is the figure reported to the Committee of Public Accounts, 90% of which was medical-based. Without using the phrase "dumbing down" but if there is a reduction in standards, is that having a subsequent impact on State claims? Last week, the committee...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I have heard anecdotally that the concentration of this 108 cohort is in specific regional hospitals. I did not mention them last week and I will not mention them this week. I assume the council has looked at this. If 20 of the 108 are in a particular hospital, surely it is an issue of concern. Whose job is it to track the impact on patient outcomes?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Has there been a spike in complaints that we can directly correlate to the 108? Is there a subsequent impact on patient care from the cohort that is not at the highest standard?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: How is that going? If there were 108, are there 106 now? Is it going in the right direction? Is the training group having any impact on the level of quality?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I will go back to the point made by Senator Colm Burke because I want to make sure I understand it. The graph shows a 20% increase in doctors registered but there is a reduced number of new entrants. Does this mean people who qualify are leaving without ever going on the register? Is that the point? What is the mix? Where are they coming from? If they do not come from new entrants are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Where they have gone off for a few years.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Has it not always been the case that people have left and gone to Canada, trained and come back?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Looking at the figures, is it more pronounced now?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: Regarding registration, there is practising registration and non-practising registration for pharmacists. Does the Medical Council have only one register?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: What is the fee per year to register?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Workforce Planning in the Health Sector: Discussion (9 Oct 2019)

Kate O'Connell: I have one more question. Is the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 fit for purpose? I would like an honest answer. Is there anything we can do to improve outcomes for patients? Based on some of the commentary, does it need work?