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THERE ARE CURRENTLY no plans within Government to disband the National Public Health Emergency Team, says Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.
Speaking to RTÉ’s This Week, Donnelly said that despite the removal of almost all Covid-19 restrictions from 6am yesterday, there are currently no “detailed” plans to begin disbanding the public health team.
“There’s no detailed plans on that at all, NPHET are doing a very important job,” said Donnelly.
NPHET most recently met last Thursday to discuss the easing of restrictions, with Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan writing in a letter to Donnelly that there was no longer a public health rationale for a majority of restrictions.
This advice then paved the way for the Government to remove almost all Covid-19 restrictions, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin making the announcement on Friday.
According to Donnelly, the government will continue to receive advice from NPHET, with it set to meet in three weeks time to discuss masks in schools.
Donnelly added that the Government is currently looking at a medium-term strategy for current Covid-19 protections, like vaccines and testing.
When asked about plans to wind down the testing and tracing infrastructure, Donnelly said it is currently being discussed within the Department of Health, but that it will continue to be in place while the benefit is there
He said that when there are high volumes of cases, the public health value of testing goes down as it’s primary function is to try and stop transmission, but that it has been helpful to confirm cases for people to ensure that they isolate.
“We have a very large testing and tracing system in place. Between PCR testing and rapid testing, the HSE per week now is sending out about 1.8 million tests,” said Donnelly.
“They’re doing about 300,000 PCR tests and sending out about 1.5 million antigen tests, so it is very expensive.
“It is something we will continue to do so long as the benefit is there,” he added.
Vaccine waste
When asked about reports of over 500,000 vaccines set to expire in the coming weeks, Donnelly said that it would not be possible to donate them due to them being taken out of the freezer.
“They can’t be donated. The reason they go out of date, so to speak, is it’s the time that they’ve been taken out of the freezer,” he said.
Donnelly said that there were enough vaccines available to ensure that people could access a booster, but due to the rise in cases due to Omicron, those who were infected were unable to get a booster.
On low booster takeup in younger cohorts, Donnelly said that he was not concerned as this was due to a high level of Covid-19 infection among younger people in recent weeks.
“The estimate is that 70% to 80% of that group from 18 to 40 have boosted immunity,” said Donnelly, due to either having received a booster vaccine or having a recent Covid-19 infection.
Currently, anyone who has had a Covid-19 infection within the last three months is not eligible to receive a booster dose.
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Two years ago I had an accident that involved my hand getting cut with a chainsaw (seriously don’t ask!). It all healed up well but I developed a granuloma which is just basically a bump of gooey skin that healed to fast. I needed it removed and they gave me a date for six weeks later to get it removed. In the mean time I fell up the stairs causing the lump to just rip off. I rang to cancel the appointment because I obviously no longer needed it removed. Two years later I am still getting letters giving me new appointments because I didn’t show up for my previous one. I’ve rang every time I’ve gotten a letter to explain and they are still sending me letters. I think it’s about time that they started to worry about the people that really need day procedures and stop concerning themselves with people that don’t or aren’t bothered.
What happened?
Holding a stick and it hopped when my dad was sawing it and it pulled my hand under the chainsaw! I now only have three and a half fingernails on one hand! But hey I look real cool now!
Only when people need these services themselves or they see close friends and family suffering do they realize how big this problem is….to everyone else it’s just numbers. Our healthcare is nearly third world…god help anyone who needs it.
Our healthcare is world class – that’s part of the problem, illnesses that would previously have meant people would never even be considered for surgery are now just a routine part of the history.
Waiting lists are due to a great many things – a big one being the difficulty in emptying beds once people are well. Funding has long since disappeared for things like step down or convalescence placements, so patients end up stuck in beds that could be used to reduce waiting lists.
“Nearly third world”????? If you had ever seen a third world health system you would realise that, no matter what problems our system has, there is a VAST spectrum of quality between Ireland and the Third World.
Idiot.
I think Dominic meant in comparison to what it was, or could be, the quality of our Health System has seriously gone down hill in recent times.
I was talking to a surgeon from Sudan a few weeks ago, he told me how he and a few colleagues wanted to kit out an entire operating theatre in the Sudan with all the equipment needed to run it, from monitors to lights and operating tables. If he bought them here he’d have to buy from a prescribed list of approved manufacturers and that would cost anywhere from 300k to 500k, far beyond their budget. He asked an engineer what he should do and was told to look elsewhere, he did. He got everything he needed for less than 30k, delivered, brand new, with guarantees and support. He and his colleagues are over the moon, they can now offer a state of the art service for free, as their clients have no money to pay – in the Third World.
This is where we are going wrong. We, in the so called First World believe we have to have the equipment that carries the recognized brand names, it has to come from “approved lists” and not common sense. It should be a case of can it do the same job, is it half the price, or even better a quarter the price. If a surgeon can kit out an entire theatre for 1/10 the price it costs here then surely we’re doing something wrong.
Jed I this is true, My husband lost hip due to infection in hospital, with only one hip he could not walk, I had to fight for almost a year with HSE for motor wheelchair, I was told it would be impossible as the ones they did have cost more than 8k, I went to a place that had the type of wheelchair my husband needed, the owner said he had his name registered with HSE and his Wchairs cost 1k. I wrote a letter to HSE asking why they used a dealer who was charging 8k, when they had another dealer with almost the same type of Wchair for 1k. The nurse who helped my husband at home read it and said she would like to take letter and show it to a few in HSE. Within 6 weeks my husband had his Wchair and guess who supplied it, the dealer at 1k. I asked then who was the dealer charging 8k, of course I got no reply this was 2 yrs ago. I can verify this at any time. The special bed my husband was given is actually rented from another company, seems a lot of these beds have been rented yearly by HSE along with a lot of other equipment for a very long time. Should I push my luck and ask how much they are paying for the bed/beds, also who these dealers/companies might be. I think people have a right to know where the millions are going.
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Good friend of mine is waiting a year for a triple by-pass with no sign of him getting it!! Absolute disgrace!!
Time to strike a deal with private hospitals.
Ironically enough, i bet they can do a lot of procedures cheaper.
Don’t know if appointments to see consultants count under this…but been waiting over 12 months to see a pain specialist now!
There is a waiting list to see consultants. There is a whole series of layers before you even get in a list to get treated.
Another fail by Reilly.
My brother has been waiting for hospital
Appointment for a few months now, not terribly urgent but still needs treatment. Got appointment yesterday for, wait for it…….June 14. Rang hospital to see if it’s a mistake but no.
I have been waiting for a routine scan for 4 yrs and the hospital called me 3 weeks ago to find out if I wanted to stay on the waiting list …… My response to that person was ” well I’ve been waiting 4 yrs sure what’s another 4 ” one does not know what the other is doing in the HSE system . We are all just a number …
Does having private health insurance makes any difference?
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