Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Maria Byrne. I apologise on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, who unfortunately cannot be here. He has asked me to reply to the Senator on this matter.

The matter relates to the transposition of medical provisions for the basic safety standards directive by the Department of Health and whether physiotherapists will be designated as referrers in the transposing regulations. The basic safety standards directive, for which the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment has overall responsibility, is important European legislation. It aims to protect the public, patients, workers and others from all forms of ionising radiation. While ionising radiation has had beneficial applications, as the use of ionising radiation increases so does the potential for health hazards if not properly used or contained. The directive enhances and strengthens a number of concepts in radiological protection. The directive stresses the need for a high level of competency and a clear definition of the responsibilities and tasks among all professionals involved in medical exposure. This is to ensure the adequate protection of patients undergoing medical radiodiagnostic and radiotherapeutic procedures. In transposing the medical provisions of the directive, the Department of Health sought the advice of the medical exposure radiation unit, MERU, in the HSE and a group it established to inform the transposition process. The Department conducted a consultation exercise in June 2017 on certain provisions of the directive. The consultation was posted on the Department's website and notified to likely stakeholders. The Department also made arrangements to ensure that licenceholders of ionising radiation equipment were notified of the consultation process. The directive defines referrers and practitioners with certain roles and responsibilities attached to the roles. The statutory instrument transposing the directive will designate some who may refer from radiological tests and in this regard, it is proposed to designate nurses, doctors, dentists and radiographers as appropriate.

The Physiotherapists Registration Board, established under CORU, opened its register in 2016. The two-year transition period ends in September 2018, when all existing physiotherapists must register, after which time only those registered can practise as a physiotherapist and use the protected title of physiotherapist. Physiotherapists are not registered as referred in the current regulations, Sl 478 of 2002, and it is not proposed to designate them in the new regulations. Not all regulated professions will be designated as referrers in the new regulations. It would not be appropriate to consider this matter in the context of the directive alone.

While there are no current plans to extend the scope of practice of physiotherapists, the Minister for Health launched the national strategic framework for health and social care workforce planning in November 2017. It is intended that the framework will support the recruitment and retention of the right mix of health workers across the health system to meet planned and projected service need. In that context it is envisaged that in due course, matters relating to health and social care professionals such as physiotherapists, including scope of practice, will be considered through the framework structure currently being established. The Department of Health is working to finalise the transposition of the medical provisions of the basic safety standards directive in the coming weeks.