Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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492. To ask the Minister for Health if he will address waiting times for persons who potentially may be diagnosed with Parkinson's disease to see a neurologist regarding changes to medication and diagnosis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17569/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the fact that there are long waiting times for people with Parkinson's disease in seeing a neurologist. This is largely due to the limited number of consultant Neurologists in Ireland.

The National Clinical Programme for Neurology (NCPN) Model of Care document recommends an increase in the number of consultant neurologists, nurse specialists, including clinical nurse specialists in Parkinson's disease, and other Health Care professionals which would address waiting time issues. The programme also proposed implementation of these recommendations over a period of 5 years. This will significantly improve the access for all Neurology patients including people with Parkinson's disease.

The model of care for neurology was launched by the Director General of the HSE on the 27th September 2016 and the HSE is now working towards its implementation.