Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

216. To ask the Minister for Health how the additional €8.8 million will be spent on primary care services during 2023. [25255/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The development of primary care services – alongside social and community care more broadly – is central to this Government's determination to deliver a high-quality, integrated and cost-effective health care system.

In addition to annual funding of €195 million allocated in Budget 2022 for the recruitment of staff and implementation of the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) Programme, a further €8.8 million was allocated in Budget 2023 to Primary Care for new developments.

€5m of this funding is being invested in new measures within oral healthcare services, with €4.75m of this being used to develop and roll-out comprehensive oral healthcare packages for children from 0-7 years, as part of the implementation of the National Oral Health Policy, Smile Agus Sláinte. To help address orthodontics waiting lists, €0.25m is a non-pay allocation to support four new consultant orthodontists to provide care to patients.

€2.3 million was provisioned to implement a number of initiatives aimed at improving diabetes care, including commencing the development of a National Diabetes Registry and the commencement of a National Paediatric Audit of Type 1 Diabetes, and two further initiatives related to gestational diabetes. These initiatives focus on improving our information on diabetes patients and health services and improving the provision of care for gestational diabetes.

€1 million was also secured to commence a pilot to test a Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in community care settings. The pilot is yet to commence as the research team are undertaking an international review of the evidence.

€0.4 million has been allocated to Community Intervention Teams (CIT’s) to increase HSCP staffing in the teams to support hospital discharge, and €0.1 million was allocated to develop and implement the Model of Care for Long COVID this year.