602. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the oversight role exercised by her Department in approving or reviewing national clinical models of care which inform consultant recruitment specifications; and whether the Minister retains ultimate policy responsibility for ensuring that such models align with international evidence and best practice. [13650/26]
Parliamentary questions
Questions
TDs ask ministers questions to get answers on the record, most of them in writing. Here is every one asked in the 34th Dáil, by the department it went to and the subject heading it was filed under. How questions work
Browse the questions
Showing questions asked by Ken O'Flynn under the heading Healthcare Policy.
247 questions match, newest first.
616. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has approved any national governance, safeguarding, and clinical governance framework for gender identity services for children and young people, including required standards, audit arrangements, and lines of accountability; and if so, to provide the title, date of approval, and the name of the unit responsible for monitoring compliance. [13…
617. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has conducted or commissioned, since 2019, any risk assessment, safeguarding assurance review, or governance assessment of gender identity services for children and young people, including assessment of diagnostic governance, consent safeguards, data completeness, and clinical oversight; and if so, to provide the date, the commissioning body…
618. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has completed any formal assessment since 2018 of the WPATH Standards of Care for the purposes of alignment with Irish health governance frameworks, including appraisal methodology, conflicts-of-interest screening, and evidence grading; and if so, to provide the date and the governance route by which the assessment was approved. [13695/26]
619. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has issued any written instruction to the HSE to establish a national dataset for gender identity services for minors, including referral volumes, diagnostic profiles, treatment pathways, and outcomes; and if so, to specify the minimum dataset fields required, the legal basis relied upon, and the target date for national coverage [13696/26]
624. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department requires maternity services to record and report, as a national patient safety governance measure, any instance where signs of life are observed following a termination of pregnancy, including whether any national data return is required from maternity hospitals to the Department or to a national programme; and if not, to state the policy ba…
625. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has commissioned or overseen since 2019 any national clinical audit, serious incident learning review, or patient safety governance review in relation to reporting and governance arrangements for cases where signs of life are observed following a termination of pregnancy; and if so, to provide the number of reviews, the dates, and whether fi…
1034. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health to outline the Department’s formal policy and methodology for evaluating international clinical guidance prior to its consideration or adoption within national healthcare frameworks; whether any such formal evaluation was undertaken in respect of the WPATH Standards of Care between 2018 and 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9416/26]
1039. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the governance framework under which funding for chronic pain services is currently allocated, given that the HSE has confirmed that funding decisions are made at regional level without national expenditure data; when this decentralised approach was approved by her Department; and the oversight mechanisms her Department has in place to ensure consistency and equi…
1042. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has specified, or intends to specify, a minimum national dataset for chronic pain services, including waiting times, consultant capacity, referral pathways, and treatment modalities; and when such standards will be issued to the HSE. [9475/26]
1043. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health what assessment her Department has made of regional variation in access to specialist chronic pain services following the establishment of the six health regions; and the measures she will take to prevent inequitable access to care based on geographic location. [9476/26]
1055. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she accepts that responsibility for national policy, safeguarding standards, and governance frameworks for services involving children rests with her Department rather than with clinical programmes established by the Health Service Executive; and how that responsibility is exercised in the context of gender identity services for minors. [9488/26]
1056. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether her Department has assessed the evidence base underpinning current or proposed models of care for gender identity services for children and young people; whether international reviews or guidance were considered in that assessment; and whether any such assessment has been formally documented. [9489/26]
2167. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health her Department’s policy for evaluating international clinical guidance prior to alignment with national healthcare frameworks; the assessments carried out by her Department on the WPATH Standards of Care between 2018 and 2023; and the timeline for completing a formal review of those standards in light of the Cass Review. [74398/25]
717. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health whether she considers it appropriate that elective, non medically indicated circumcision procedures may be authorised in public hospitals in the absence of any national policy, national ethical framework, or centrally issued clinical guidance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [73636/25]
721. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department has assessed the consistency of regional decision making on elective, non medically indicated circumcision procedures with national consent policy, child safeguarding standards, and international best practice; and if not, whether she intends to initiate such an assessment. [73640/25]
722. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she intends to develop or commission a national policy governing the provision or refusal of elective male circumcision procedures in public hospitals where no medical indication exists; and if not, to set out the reasons. [73641/25]
853. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she is satisfied that the current approval process for gender-affirming surgery under the treatment abroad scheme operates without any standardised national clinical review panel or centralised governance structure; the steps she intends to take to introduce national oversight; and when such measures will be operational. [69089/25]
855. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the criteria used by her Department to determine which gender-affirming procedures are eligible for approval under the treatment abroad scheme; the clinical basis for excluding procedures such as facial feminisation surgery; and whether a review of these criteria is underway or planned. [69091/25]
870. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the current policy position on the provision of gender-affirming surgeries within the State; the number of patients currently approved for such surgeries under the treatment abroad scheme; the number awaiting approval; the expected cost of developing domestic surgical capacity; and the actions under way within the Department to assess service need, governance, and…
984. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the national policy or clinical-governance framework which guides the assessment of children and young people for gender-related interventions, including referrals abroad; and to confirm if the Department plans to undertake a review of national governance standards in light of recent international findings in this area. [69541/25]
460. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if her Department plans to introduce a dedicated older persons pain strategy aligned with Sláintecare’s integrated-care objectives; and if so, the planned scope, timelines and implementation milestones. [68704/25]
523. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the statutory or policy basis on which elective procedures without medical indication are authorised within the public hospital system; and if any legal advice has been sought on the permissibility of allocating public resources for such procedures. [68917/25]
560. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health if she will direct the HSE to establish a national dataset for primary care laboratory testing, including standard lipid profile tests, with data recorded by CHO area, care setting and quarter, as recommended in the HSE Strategic Plan for Laboratory Services 2026-2035; the timeline for implementation of such a system; the governance arrangements that will apply; a…
561. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Health the specific actions taken to date by her Department to implement the HSE Strategic Plan for Laboratory Services 2026-2035, with particular reference to the recommendation for consistent and transparent systems for the collection of data and workload metrics; the funding and staffing allocated in 2025 and 2026 for this purpose; and if she will make a statement on …