Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 16 Jun 1998

Vol. 492 No. 4

Written Answers. - Health Information.

Seán Ryan

Question:

17 Mr. S. Ryan asked the Minister for Health and Children the steps, if any, he is taking and the funding allocation, if any, being made for the collection of health data and statistics in order to ensure that these are more comprehensive and up to date information is available in his Department. [14254/98]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

Health data and statistics are central to the provision of an efficient and effective health service. The health status and health needs of the population must be ascertained and delivery of services appropriately planned and targeted. In addition, service provision needs to be carefully monitored, and its contribution towards health and social gain assessed. These requirements are stated explicitly in the Department's recent statement of strategy and are reflected in improvements to the timeliness and comprehensiveness of existing information systems and in the development of new databases and analysis tools.

Some of the more important initiatives are as follows, but this is by no means an exhaustive list. The Hospital In-Patient Enquiry which captures detailed information on all hospital discharges from publicly-funded acute hospitals has been significantly improved in recent years. It has now reached very high levels of coverage and timeliness. It is an integral part of the Department's casemix system which is used in the allocation of hospital resources and is also a valuable source of clinical and epidemiological information.

A new public health information system has been established. This provides a minimum common data set of health indicators for morbidity and mortality by county and health board area. The system has its own software which includes mapping and graphics facilities. It has been developed in conjunction with the directors of public health in each health board and is an invaluable tool in examining trends in health on a regional basis. An up-dated version of the public health information system will be released in the next few weeks.

The health promotion unit of my Department recently commissioned the centre for health promotion studies at University College Galway to undertake the first National Lifestyle Survey — SLAN — in Ireland. This is now well under way and preliminary data on a range of health status measures will be available later this year.

The National Cancer Registry published its first report in July last year and is due to publish its second report later this year. This is an essential source of information on the prevalence of all types of cancer at national and county level, and allows international comparisons to be made.

In 1995, the Department established the National Intellectual Disability Database to provide a comprehensive and accurate information base for decision-making in relation to the planning, funding and management of services for people with an intellectual disability.

Other initiatives include the establishment of a database on the health service needs of persons with physical and sensory disabilities. A pilot project in this area by three health boards has just been completed. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland Bill, currently before the Oireachtas, will provide for the collection of statistics and other data relating to the safety of food. A new system has been developed for the delivery of the childhood primary immunisation programme, which enables uptake levels to be measured and nonimmunised children to be identified. In accordance with the Dental Health Action Plan, a standardised oral health database and information collection system is in the process of development. Following the recommendations of the Ministerial Task Force on Measures to Reduce the Demand for Drugs, all health boards are currently establishing databases on the nature and extent of drug misuse.

While the level of funding for specific initiatives is of course known, it is not possible to provide a global estimate for the total amount of funding allocated to the collection of health data and statistics. Virtually every health service programme produces statistics as an integral part of its administrative and reporting requirements, but this activity is not usually accorded a specific budget line. For example, my Department collects monthly data on health board financial, employment and activity indicators but there is no explicit funding at health board level for this requirement. Likewise, the Department's systems unit provides an annual capital information technology allocation of approximately £14 million for health agencies to improve their information systems but of course not all of this sum would go directly towards generating statistical data.

Health information and statistics are seen as increasingly critical in ensuring an effective, efficient and equitable health service, and the initiatives indicated above serve to illustrate my Department's commitment in this area.