Vol. 404 No. 8
50 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Health if he will outline the progress made to date in implementing the report of the Commission on Health Funding; if any timetable has been set for the implementation of the recommendations; the recommendations, if any, which the Government have decided not to implement; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
In my address to Dáil Éireann on 6 February 1990 I outlined a series of measures aimed at improving the efficiency and quality of the health services. These included the allocation of additional funds for the development of community services, the initiation of efficiency reviews of the delivery of hospital services, the commitment to a radical upgrading of information systems at national and local level and measures to improve management expertise in the health services including the appointment of specialist managers in key areas such as, for example, Cork Regional Hospital. These measures represented the first step in the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on Health Funding. I also announced that decisions on the major recommendations of the commission in relation to eligibility and the administration of the health services would be taken when the Government had completed their consideration of the commission's report and of the subsequent consultative process.
The Government's response to the commission's report has now been taken a stage further with the very significant developments included in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. These include, in particular, the commitment to a major programme of development of community-based facilities over a seven-year period; adjustments to the eligibility structure in order to improve equity of access to public hospital care; and detailed proposals to improve the quality of patient care in our hospitals. The programme also indicates the Government's intention to bring forward proposals in the course of the year on the administration and management of the health services. In this context, the commission highlighted the central role of information in the future management of an efficient health service, and the development of information technology is receiving priority in the allocation of capital funding.
