Written Answers Nos. 612-634
612. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which the concerns of parents of children with mental health problems are regularly monitored, with a view to ensuring the availability of adequate residential places; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19480/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond directly to the Deputy as soon as possible.
613. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health whether implementing the recommendations of the independent termination of pregnancy review is a priority for him. [18633/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Independent Review of the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 made a range of recommendations most of which are operational in nature.
The final Report of the Review made a number of recommendations in relation to increasing access to services.
The Government asked the HSE to establish an implementation group to progress the operational recommendations. An action plan for the implementation of the recommendations has been developed. Ten work-streams have been identified, they are as follows:
Early Pregnancy Ultrasound
Section 12-Early Pregnancy TOP
Surgical TOP and MVA
Audit & Data Collection
Education & Training
Foetal Medicine Protocols
National Prenatal Screening Programme
Maternal Health - Section 9
HSE Workplace Policies
Leadership Models
Significant progress has already been made in this regard, for instance six additional hospitals started providing termination services in 2023, an increase of 55%.
Increased service provision is largely down to the huge increase in funding for women’s healthcare under this government, as well as the dedicated work of our healthcare leads.
Termination services in early pregnancy (up to 12 weeks) are currently provided in 17 of the 19 maternity hospitals, with the remaining two expected to come onboard in 2024.
There has also been a small but sustained increase in community providers, approximately an additional 20 in the last 12 months alone.
Furthermore, the revised model of care introduced in response to the Covid pandemic has been approved as the enduring model of care. Under this blended approach, it is possible for one of the two consultations required for termination in early pregnancy to take place remotely. This will alleviate the time and expense involved in travelling to the doctor’s surgery twice.
The cumulative effect of these measures, now in place, will substantially reduce barriers and increase access to services for those who need it.
Safe Access Zones legislation is at an advanced stage in its progress through the Houses of the Oireachtas, with Report Stage in the Seanad scheduled for 1st May.
The proposals recommending legislative changes were referred to the Joint Committee on Health for consideration. Further consideration of this issue will take place at the Cabinet Committee on Health
614. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Health the reason the MIDOC in Birr, County Offaly closed; if there are plans for it to reopen; if there is an assessment of accessibility of primary care in Birr; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18735/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
615. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health when travel pay expenses will be paid to a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18736/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
616. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the work of an organisation (details supplied) to provide heart and stroke services; if he has plans to work with the foundation to expand services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18737/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra617. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health if he plans to expand the services available to heart and stroke patients; if he is aware that around one in three of all stroke survivors are referred to an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18738/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra618. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of concerns that stroke survivors are not sufficiently supported following their release from hospital; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18739/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra619. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of concerns that heart failure patients are not sufficiently supported when out of hospital; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18740/24]
Amharc ar fhreagra620. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Health if he is aware of the significant support services that are offered by an organisation (details supplied); if he aware of concerns that their current funding model is unsustainable; his plans to address this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18741/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 616, 617, 618, 619 and 620 together.
As this is a service matter, it has been referred to the Health Service Executive for attention and direct reply to the Deputy.
621. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health if the providers of online medical certificates including fit to return to work certificates, unfit for work, pre-employment medical certificates and prescriptions are approved by his Department. [18744/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, medical practitioners who practise medicine in the State must be registered with the Medical Council. Doctors are permitted to provide http services and the Medical Council has produced specific guidelines to assist doctors in understanding their obligations in this area.
Telemedicine is referred to within the Medical Council’s 9th edition of the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners which became effective from the 1st January 2024. Section 37 of the Guide states that doctors providing telemedicine services to patients must observe the same standards of conduct and practice as would be expected if treating the patient in-person.
My Department has no role in setting the criteria employers should use in relation to sick leave management or medical certificates.
622. Deputy Brian Stanley asked the Minister for Health if the practice of the provision of online medical certificates is approved by the HSE and his Department; and if so, how a person can be judged as being fit or unfit for work without actually carrying out a medical examination. [18745/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Medical Practitioners Act 2007, medical practitioners who practise medicine in the State must be registered with the Medical Council. Doctors are permitted to provide telemedicine services and the Medical Council has produced specific guidelines to assist doctors in understanding their obligations in this area.
Telemedicine is referred to within the Medical Council’s 9th edition of the Guide to Professional Conduct and Ethics for Registered Medical Practitioners which became effective from the 1st January 2024. Section 37 of the Guide states that doctors providing telemedicine services to patients must observe the same standards of conduct and practice as would be expected if treating the patient in-person.
My Department has no role in setting the criteria employers should use in relation to sick leave management or medical certificates.
623. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health when the HSE will finalise its pay and numbers strategy for 2024. [18754/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
624. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health if he plans to make access to Mehta growth guidance casting for infantile idiopathic scoliosis available for children in the State, whether through access to care in the State or through access to care abroad; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18755/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
625. Deputy Joe Carey asked the Minister for Health if all clinical staff in the emergency department of UHL have received training in the National Clinical Guidelines No 6 Sepsis Management; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18757/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
626. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Health if he will ensure that a nursing home place is made available for a person (details supplied). [18760/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
627. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the steps that have been taken towards developing a UN convention on the rights of older people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18764/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government is strongly committed to protecting the rights of older people. This commitment is reflected in a range of ongoing policy initiatives, including the recent establishment of an independent Commission on Care for Older People; the ongoing development of a statutory home-support scheme; the ongoing reform of the long-term residential care sector; and the ongoing development by my Department (in partnership with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth) of a national policy on adult safeguarding in the health and social care sector. More broadly, that in 2019 Ireland became the first country to be formally designated as ‘age-friendly’ by the World Health Organization bears testimony to the Government’s commitment to supporting positive ageing across the life-course as well as to ensuring that older people can continue to live independently in their homes and communities for as long as possible. Internationally, the Government supports the enhancement of the framework for the protection of the rights of older persons. Ireland co-sponsored the resolutions on older persons at the 51st regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (12 September–7 October 2022), which contained language on ‘the possible elaboration of a multilateral legal instrument on the rights of older persons’, and at the 54th session of the Human Rights Council (11 September–13 October 2023), which took note of gaps in the existing human rights framework for the protection of older persons. Ireland’s UN Permanent Mission in New York will be following closely the 14th meeting of the UN Open-ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA) which will be held from 20–24 May 2024. The mandate of the OEWGA is to consider the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and identify possible gaps and how best to address them, including by considering, as appropriate, the feasibility of further instruments and measures. The agenda for this meeting includes a section dedicated to ‘consideration of the proposed intergovernmental negotiated recommendations submitted pursuant to decision 13/1, regarding the existing international framework of the human rights of older persons and possible gaps, and options on how best to address them’.
628. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the role of the Irish Medical Council in respect of difficulties with the Ministerial licence application for medical cannabis access; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18766/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe receipt and processing of applications from clinicians to the Minister for Health for a licence issued pursuant to Section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act to treat a patient with cannabis-based products is solely a matter for the Department of Health.
629. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the reason a patient who has completed a Ministerial license application with their medical consultant cannot make a complaint in respect of the process and is instead deemed a third party as they are not the applicant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18767/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application for a licence issued pursuant to Section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act to treat a patient with cannabis-based products may only be made by a consultant or a general practitioner with the endorsement of a consultant. A patient may not make an application for a licence. The Department of Health will only discuss the application with the applicant and not with any third party, including the patient.
If customer wishes to make a complaint the Customer Complaints Procedure is on the Department of Health's website.
630. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the reason a patient (details supplied) who applied for the Ministerial license on 7 December 2023 has received no reply on the matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18768/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAn application for a licence issued pursuant to Section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act to treat a patient with cannabis-based products may be made by a consultant or a general practitioner with the endorsement of a consultant. The Department of Health will only discuss the application with the applicant and has no record of an application being made to the Minister for Health by the person whose details were supplied. If the person whose details were supplied is a patient, as a matter of policy the Department of Health would not contact him.
631. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the reason his Department deems it inappropriate to discuss applications under section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 to treat a patient with schedule 1 cannabis-based products with the patient; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18769/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraA consultant or a GP with the endorsement of a consultant may apply to the Minister for Health for a licence issued pursuant to Section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act to treat a patient with cannabis-based products. The Department will only discuss the application with the applicant and not with any third parties, which includes patients. A patient may discuss the matter directly with their clinician.
632. Deputy Violet-Anne Wynne asked the Minister for Health the length of time it takes for a consultant who has submitted an application under section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 to treat a patient with schedule 1 cannabis-based products to hear from his Department; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18770/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraA consultant who has submitted valid application to the Minister for Health for a licence issued pursuant to Section 14 of the Misuse of Drugs Act to treat a patient with cannabis-based products can expect to hear from the Department of Health within a matter of days.
633. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health when a hospital appointment will be scheduled for a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18781/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the Health Act 2004, the Health Service Executive (HSE) is required to manage and deliver, or arrange to be delivered on its behalf, health and personal social services. Section 6 of the HSE Governance Act 2013 bars the Minister for Health from directing the HSE to provide a treatment or a personal service to any individual or to confer eligibility on any individual.
In relation to the particular query raised, as this is a service matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
634. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Health the travel options that may be available to an elderly patient travelling from Thurles, County Tipperary, to Croom, County Limerick for a rheumatology appointment, who has no other means of transport; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18790/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs this is an operational matter, I have asked the Health Service Executive to respond to the Deputy directly, as soon as possible.
