Ken O'Flynn

2323. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of consultant recruitment campaigns undertaken since 2023 that failed to result in an appointment to a public-only consultant contract post, by specialty and HSE Health Region. [43616/26]

2324. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the estimated annual additional Exchequer cost associated with the introduction of the public-only consultant contract since 2023; the budget provided for this purpose in each year; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43617/26]

2325. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether a value-for-money review of the public-only consultant contract has been undertaken since its introduction; and if not, whether such a review is planned. [43618/26]

2326. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she is satisfied that the absence of formal national criteria governing the suspension or reassignment of healthcare professionals subject to criminal investigation for serious offences provides sufficient consistency and patient-safety assurance across all HSE regions. [43619/26]

2327. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any review, analysis, assessment, briefing, report, business case, internal examination or other evaluation has been undertaken since 1 January 2024 regarding the drivers of variation in reimbursement costs for salbutamol nebule products under the General Medical Services Scheme; if so, to provide the date, author, purpose and principal findings of each such review; and if no such review has been undertaken, to confirm that fact. [43627/26]

2328. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any national respiratory disease monitoring, surveillance, forecasting, winter-planning, population-health management or health-service demand forecasting system currently incorporates prescribing, reimbursement or utilisation data held by the Primary Care Reimbursement Service; if so, to identify each such system, the datasets used, the purpose for which the data is used, and the body responsible for its operation. [43628/26]

2329. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health, the HSE, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the National Clinical Programme for Respiratory Health, the Central Statistics Office, or any other public body has undertaken an assessment of the potential use of Primary Care Reimbursement Service prescribing or reimbursement data as an early-warning indicator for respiratory disease trends, seasonal respiratory pressures, asthma exacerbations, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease demand, winter surge planning or healthcare resource forecasting; and if so, to provide details of any such assessment and its findings. [43629/26]

2330. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the two System Analysis Reviews identified by the National Ambulance Service as involving ambulance allocation or dispatch delays since 2020 resulted in recommendations, corrective actions, policy changes or service improvements; and if so, to provide details. [43664/26]

2331. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the two incidents involving delayed ambulance allocation that were escalated through the Enterprise Risk Register, Serious Incident Management Team or National Incident Management System involved patient death, serious harm, permanent injury or other adverse clinical outcomes; and if they cannot provide details for confidentiality reasons, to outline the broad category of outcome involved. [43665/26]

2332. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether they are satisfied that the National Ambulance Service does not routinely maintain datasets recording prolonged ambulance allocation delays, longest allocation delays, or correlations between dispatch delays and patient outcomes; and whether any plans exist to introduce such monitoring and reporting arrangements. [43666/26]

2333. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether they are satisfied that the National Ambulance Service does not maintain a national dataset recording elapsed time between receipt of a 999 call and allocation of an ambulance resource; whether the Minister has requested that such a dataset be established; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43671/26]

2334. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether they are satisfied that no national analysis has been conducted examining the relationship between ambulance allocation or dispatch delays and mortality, morbidity, clinical deterioration or other patient outcomes; whether such analysis will now be commissioned; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43672/26]

2335. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether they will publish details of the two System Analysis Reviews identified by the National Ambulance Service as having found ambulance allocation or dispatch delays to be contributory factors; and if publication is not possible, the nature of the findings, recommendations and corrective actions arising from those reviews. [43673/26]

2336. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of rejected claims recorded under the PCRS in each of the years 2023, 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026 for respiratory medicines including salbutamol, ipratropium products, inhaled corticosteroids and nebuliser products; the number subsequently paid following resubmission; the most common reasons for rejection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43674/26]

2337. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has undertaken any analysis, audit, review or monitoring of rejected PCRS claims relating to respiratory medicines since 2023; whether any trends, recurring errors, reimbursement issues or patient-access concerns have been identified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43675/26]

2382. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she has sought a report from the HSE on the two incidents since 2020 in which ambulance allocation or dispatch delays were identified as contributory factors in system analysis reviews; whether she will provide the dates of those incidents, the nature of the contributory findings, and the recommendations arising; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43859/26]

2383. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the Department of Health or HSE has considered establishing a national framework to routinely analyse the relationship between ambulance dispatch and allocation delays and patient outcomes, including mortality, morbidity, adverse incidents and serious reportable events; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43860/26]

2384. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she is satisfied that the absence of a central national dataset recording elapsed time from receipt of a 999 call to allocation of an ambulance resource permits adequate national oversight of dispatch performance and patient safety risks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43861/26]

2414. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the governance arrangements governing reimbursement rule changes, claim validation criteria, claim rejection criteria and reference pricing decisions within the Primary Care Reimbursement Service, including the decision-making authorities involved, review mechanisms and oversight structures. [44052/26]

2415. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the number of pharmacy reimbursement claims submitted, approved, adjusted, rejected and successfully appealed in each year from 2020 to date, together with the most common reasons recorded for claim rejection or adjustment. [44053/26]

2416. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether any internal audit, external audit, assurance review, risk assessment or value-for-money review of PCRS reimbursement decision-making processes, claim validation controls, claim rejection procedures or reference pricing arrangements has been completed since 2020 and to provide the dates and findings of such reviews. [44054/26]

2417. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether Children’s Health Ireland has conducted any internal audit, external audit, clinical audit, utilisation review, value-for-money review, peer review, quality assurance review or independent assessment since 2020 concerning elective paediatric surgical decision-making, theatre allocation, waiting-list prioritisation or the application of medical necessity criteria; and if she will provide details of each such review, including the date conducted, the body responsible, the principal findings and whether the reports will be published. [44055/26]

2418. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether Children’s Health Ireland operates a formally documented definition, policy, protocol, framework or clinical criteria for determining that an elective paediatric procedure is medically indicated; whether such criteria are standardised across all CHI sites and specialties; and if she will provide a copy of the relevant documentation. [44056/26]

2419. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether Children’s Health Ireland, the HSE or her Department has undertaken any modelling, forecasting, scenario analysis, demand analysis or capacity-planning assessment since 2020 examining the impact of theatre allocation decisions, theatre utilisation rates or specialty-based theatre scheduling on paediatric waiting lists, waiting times or patient outcomes; and if she will provide details of any such work, including findings and recommendations. [44057/26]

2420. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether the HSE has ever undertaken, commissioned or reviewed any epidemiological assessment, public health impact assessment or retrospective study examining potential health outcomes associated with elevated manganese levels in drinking water supplies since 2020; and if details will be provided. [44062/26]