Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 21 Nov 2002

Vol. 557 No. 6

Written Answers. - Health Action Plan.

Bernard J. Durkan

Question:

204 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Health and Children the current or intended status of the ten year health strategy programme announced before the general election; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23190/02]

In 2001 I launched a comprehensive strategic plan for the health system. The national health strategy has been widely welcomed for the consultation process involved in devising it, its comprehensiveness, its long-term outlook and its inbuilt flexibility to allow for local ownership and environmental changes over its lifetime. This is the essence of a good strategic plan.

This is a seven to ten year plan and several key actions will take the ten years to implement, for example, the primary care strategy. The action plan and target dates enable systematic monitoring of progress in the achievement of the type of world class health system envisaged. At the reconvened national consultative forum held on 11 November I outlined, with the help of Department officials and senior health board staff, a detailed inventory of investment and the associ ated service developments and changes in practice which have emerged in the past year in line with the new strategic direction. I will report to the Cabinet committee on the health strategy very shortly.
Many of the actions which are front loaded in the strategy's action plan are concerned with detailed policy development or review for specific care areas. They also show a strong early start on the investment programme necessary to reconfigure our capacity around primary care and community services while ensuring that there is greater equity in the provision of acute hospital services. A strong showing has already been made in this regard with additional funding for the acute and primary care sectors in 2002 as well as significant investment in services for older people, mental health and disability services in particular.
The following provisions have been made in 2003: €53 million for bed capacity; €31 million for the treatment purchase fund; €29 million for cancer services; €4.5 million for heart lung programme; €43 million for the waiting list initiative; €25.7 million for acute hospitals pressures; and €10 million for the ongoing development of the primary care model and GP co-operatives. There is also additional funding for mental health, disabilities, older people and children's services. It must be remembered that this is on top of the biggest increases in health expenditure in the history of the State.
The strategy acknowledges the need to change, improve and develop certain aspects of the way the system operates. Almost 50 actions in the action plan for the strategy are concerned with the reform agenda. Achievements of a great many of these reforms do not require funding – they require a re-engineering of existing processes to focus on the new priorities and to focus more on the patient and client as being at the centre of the care process. I expect these targets will be met. Never has the need for maximum efficiency, value for money and accountability been more acute. These concepts are well embedded into the philosophy and practical actions of the strategy.
Work is under way to ensure that strategic and service planning is in place at regional and organisational levels. This means that service plans have the strategy's goals and objectives fully embedded as part of the everyday routine of health service delivery. The implementation of the strategy is not a parallel stream of activity – it is the way business will be conducted in the system from now on. The development of processes to fully capture, monitor and evaluate system improvement and change through the planning process are also under way. Other organisational reform, such as the establishment of the health board's executive, also provide renewed focus to the efficiencies and improved consistency across the system to be gained from conjoint working.
There remains a big agenda. Key initiatives which will inform and advance the reform agenda include the ongoing work of the consultants working on the audit of structures and functions of the health system. I have already described the purpose and scope of the audit to the House in some detail. The audit is now well under way and has just entered its consultative phase. Its primary focus is to establish the organisational improvements needed to strengthen the capacity of the health system to meet the challenges of implementing the programme of development and growth, modernisation and reform set out in the quality and fairness strategy document. A report is expected very early in the new year.
There is no doubt that implementation of the strategy involves challenges for everyone in the health system. Its implementation must be underpinned by strong management of our economy. That is our best guarantee that the health strategy will be delivered on.
Top
Share