Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

331. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which women's health specifically remains central to the provision and delivery of a reliable level and quality of health services in all areas throughout the country without exception; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9931/24]

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

Progressing women’s health is a priority for myself and for this Government. We made a strong commitment to promoting women’s health in the Programme for Government 2020 and are fully committed to the continued development and improvement of women’s health services and to working with women and girls to improve their health outcomes and experiences of healthcare across the whole life cycle.

Underscoring our commitment to women’s health was the establishment of a Women’s Health Taskforce in September 2019. The Women’s Health Taskforce continues to prioritise different issues each year with the overall aim of improving women’s health outcomes and experiences.

Listening is at the core of the work of the women’s health programme. The Taskforce has listened to, engaged with and worked with significant number of individuals and organisations representing women a wider ranging demographic of women and girls across the country. What we heard through this engagement became the foundations of the Women's Health Action Plan 2022-2023 (www.gov.ie/en/publication/232af-womens-health-action-plan-2022-2023/).

The Women’s Health Action Plan 2022-23 identified key actions to improve health outcomes and experiences for women in Ireland. It provided the foundation to address women’s whole health and help ensure that action on women’s health looks beyond reproductive health to make a real difference to women’s lives. I can assure the Deputy that Women’s Health continues to be one of my priorities going forward into 2024 and beyond.

Alongside the Women’s Health Action Plan, significant investment has been made into women’s health since the formation of this government. This has enabled the action plan to be delivered effectively.

Since 2020, under this Government, there has been an investment of over €140 million of additional funding allocated specifically towards women’s health initiatives.

Prioritisation of women’s health in our service provision is seen in the completed and ongoing work happening to improve healthcare for women across the country. The Action Plan and the additional investment has enabled some significant developments in women’s health, some of which are outlined below for information.

• Free contraception scheme first introduced for women aged between 17 and 25; the scheme has been gradually extended to include women aged 17-31 inclusive since 1st January 2024.
• Six Regional Fertility Hubs are now operational (National Maternity Hospital, Coombe, Rotunda, Galway University Hospital, Cork University Maternity Hospital and Nenagh
• Investment was allocated to publicly funded Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) services.
• 6 Specialist Menopause Clinics established; National Maternity Hospital, Rotunda, Coombe, Nenagh, Galway and Cork.
• Launch of National Menopause Awareness campaign; 2 phases - October 2022 and March 2023.
• www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/menopause/ launched to provide trusted information on menopause.
• In consultation with Taskforce and the Department of Health, the Department of Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform launched Menopause in the Workplace Policy Framework in October 2023
• Since 2020 a total of €16m in new development funding has been allocated to the delivery of National Maternity Strategy 2016-2026, supporting the further implementation of the Strategy’s Model of Care, recruitment of 180 additional full-time staff in maternity hospitals and units across the country, refurbishment of units and wards, home-from-home birthing suites, and additional training for staff.
• Five pilot postnatal hubs have been established in Cork, Kerry, Portiuncula, Carlow-Kilkenny and Sligo. These hubs are providing women with access to holistic postnatal care in community settings, aware from a hospital environment.
• Progress is being made on the National Maternity Hospital project - proceeding to tender for a main contractor and enabling works being carried out on site.
• 17 of the 19 maternity hospitals are providing full termination of pregnancy services, as prescribed in the 2018 Act, with services commencing in the final two hospital sites in 2024.
• Number of GPs and women’s health service contractors providing this service is now 437 with at least one provider in every county.
• 16 ‘See-and-Treat’ Ambulatory Gynaecology (AG) Clinics fully operational with three further clinics in development for 2024.
• Funding has been provided to expand the existing Pelvic Floor Services St Michael’s Hospital, Dun Laoghaire - Ireland’s first multidisciplinary clinic for the assessment and management of pelvic floor dysfunction.
• Funding has been provided for the development of a multidisciplinary Specialist Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology Centre, temporarily based in CHI Temple Street University Hospital.
• Two Specialist Endometriosis Centres for complex care have been established and are now taking referrals and are treating patients (Tallaght and Cork).
• Five additional regional endometriosis hubs are operational and are offering an initial level of service which will expand as full teams are recruited (Rotunda, Coombe, National Maternity Hospital, Limerick & Galway).
• A National Framework for Endometriosis is being finalised.
• An Inter-Departmental Period Poverty Implementation Group established; starting in 2022, €714,000 was allocated to the Department and HSE for period poverty mitigation in the community, working with community health organisations, local authorities and NGOs. The amount allocated was increased to €814,000 in 2023 and to €914,000 in 2024.
• Cervical Cancer Elimination target date (2040) announced in November 2023.
• Investment in the HPV vaccination programme, including the roll-out of the Laura Brennan HPV Catch-up Vaccination Programme for 2023.
• €600,000 was invested into new National Diabetic Retinopathy Pathway for women who have diabetes and become pregnant.
• €1.6 million for staffing new BreastCheck mobile units. This will support the recovery of the BreastCheck programme, which faced considerable impact during Covid.
• €3.2 million for new information management system for BreastCheck.
• €3.6 million for colposcopy services.
• €1.6 million for digital surveillance pathway for Diabetic RetinaScreen programme.
• 10 eating disorder multidisciplinary teams in operation across the HSE Community Healthcare Organisations; (5 in Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), 5 in adult services).
• Perinatal mental health services are specialist services for pregnant women and women with a baby up to one year old who may have an existing or new mental health problem. It is also for women with severe mental health problems who are planning a pregnancy. 6 multidisciplinary teams have been put in place in the maternity hospitals with the most footfall.
• In addition, perinatal mental health midwife posts are in now in place in the remaining 13 maternity hospitals across the country.
• €300,000 provided, through the Women’s Health Fund, for the “It’s My Time” campaign, which encouraged women over 40 to engage in physical activity and sport.
• Significant work in relation to education and training of healthcare workers e.g Published GP Quick Reference Guide on Menopause, Gender Sensitivity Training

Sláintecare is the most significant reform programme in Ireland’s Health Sector and one of the most significant reform programmes in the history of the State. The next Sláintecare Strategic Framework 2024-2027 (SC2024+) is being developed and is at an advanced stage of drafting. This framework sets out the integrated and whole of system Sláintecare reform programme to be implemented over the period 2024 -2027. It builds on the progress already made in reforming our health services and provides a continuation of a number of national reform programmes and initiatives already underway to move us towards a universal healthcare system that is accessible, affordable, and of high-quality, for patients and service users.

A key Sláintecare reform is the organisational reform of the HSE into six Health Regions responsible for the planning and coordinated delivery of health and social care services within their region. The Health Regions Implementation Plan commits to taking a population-based approach to how health and social care services are planned and funded, an approach which was championed in the Sláintecare Report. Allocation of existing healthcare resources to the Health Regions will be informed by factors such as age, sex, socioeconomic status, and rurality. An Expert Group will shortly be established by the Department to develop this population-based resourcing approach (PBRA). This means that we will be planning services around the health and social care needs of our entire population. The service needs of women will be considered as part of this.

Implementation of the services listed above represents significant development and advancement for women's health nationwide, but this remains a work in progress. I remain committed to working with the Taskforce and all stakeholders in continuing to drive progress in this space and to give women and girls the health services they deserve.