Help support Cork Safety Alerts by becoming a member – Click Here
The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly; Minister of State with responsibility for Disability, Anne Rabbitte; Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Mary Butler, and Minister of State with responsibility for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy, Hildegarde Naughton are prioritising efforts to roll-out the delivery of recently announced supports to help with Cost-of-Living pressures.
Minister Donnelly said:
Budget 2023 delivered the highest allocation of funding to the health service in the history of the state to pay for our plan to deliver the best quality healthcare in the right place at the right time for everyone.
Together with my ministerial colleagues in the Department of Health, I am completely focused on the delivery of this investment as well as the extra supports provided by Government to address the ongoing cost of living pressures alongside the roll-out of a better, stronger and more fit for purpose health service for all.
Since September 2022 significant measures are being implemented as part of ongoing improvements to the health service, alongside targeted supports going to those who are most in need, as part of continuing efforts by Government to ease cost-of-living pressures, including:
€81 million in once-off funding for voluntary and community providers
From February 2023 over 1,450 organisations will receive payments, ranging from local community groups to major national service providers.
Around €62 million will go to disability service providers, €6.8 million to older persons services, €3.9 million into social inclusion (including drugs and homeless services), €3.3 million into palliative care, €0.4 million to health and wellbeing and €0.6 million to other organisations operating in the primary care space, including many disease-specific NGOs.
This is a once-off payment in recognition of inflationary cost increases incurred over the course of 2022, and the impact of these on the cost of delivering the services under each organisation’s relevant agreement with the Department of Health.
Approval to publish the General Scheme of the Health (Abolition of Public Inpatient Charges) Bill 2023
The Bill, when enacted, will remove the acute public in-patient charge of €80 per day, up to a maximum of €800 in a year (including day-case charges), for adults accessing care as a public patient in all public hospitals. Last year, both overnight and day case public in-patient charges for children under 16 were abolished.
€9 million package of supports for student nurses and midwives’ measures
An enhanced Travel and Subsistence Scheme for student nurses and midwives in years one to three of their studies will see each receive €500 per year as a targeted measure to contribute towards meeting the extra costs of meals associated with practice placements outside the student’s core placement site.
A new rate of €80 for overnight accommodation has been introduced, along with an increased weekly cap of €300, for those students who require accommodation away from their normal place of residence while attending practice placements. This weekly cap is three times the cap introduced on 1 January 2022, and almost six times the previous cap.
Student nurses and midwives can also avail of, on a vouched basis, the reasonable cost of uniform laundry services during periods of overnight accommodation. Pay will be re-instated at 80% of first year staff nurse/midwife pay scale, for internship students. Two additional uniforms for student nurses and midwives at the start of their internship.
Continuing Expansion of Free GP Care
Free GP Care is available for all children under the age of 6. From April 2023, eligibility will be further extended to people who earn the median household income of €46,000 or less. This means that almost half of the population will have access to free GP care. It is envisaged that these measures will be supported by a significant package of additional capacity supports to GP practices.
Free contraception scheme for women aged 17–25
Since September 2022 free contraception, for women aged 17–25, has been made available from GPs, primary care centres and pharmacists who sign up to provide services under the scheme. All consultations with a medical practitioner required to access prescription contraception, the fitting of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARCs) and their removal, and the provision of prescription contraception by pharmacists will be free to 17–25-year-olds. This was extended to 26-year-olds from January this year and from September 2023, women aged 27-30 will be included.