Joe Sherlock
Question:137 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for Health and Children the progress made to date in implementing the report of the Primary Care Task Force; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3423/03]
Written Answers. - Primary Care Task Force.
The aims of the primary care strategy, Primary Care: A New Direction, are to provide: a strengthened primary care system which will play a more central role as the first and ongoing point of contact for people with the health-care system; an integrated, inter-disciplinary, high-quality, team-based and user-friendly set of services for the public, and enhanced capacity for primary care in the areas of disease prevention, rehabilitation and personal social services to complement the existing diagnosis and treatment focus.
This strategy sets out an implementation plan with an incremental approach which recognises the breadth of the change that will be required in order to support the roll out of the new primary care model over the next decade. Since the launch of this strategy in November 2001, a number of essential implementation steps have been taken.
In April 2002 I established the primary care task force within my Department. It has responsibility for driving the implementation of the changes and developments set out in the model. The task force initially prioritised the selection of locations for a number of primary care implementation projects and in October 2002 I gave approval to the first ten such projects – one in each health board area. These projects will build on the services and resources already in place in the ten locations involved, so as to develop, over the coming months, a primary care team in line with the inter-disciplinary model described in the strategy. I have committed a total of €8.4 million to these projects over 2002 and 2003.
The primary care task force is working with the health boards and other interests to support the implementation projects in achieving the goal of establishing a primary care team in each of the locations involved. This will include the provision of personal and organisational development support through the Office of Health Management. There will also be consultation with those directly involved with the projects on a number of operational issues which will need to be addressed as these initial projects are established. I established a national primary care steering group in June 2002. It is chaired by Professor Ivan Perry, professor of epidemiology and public health at University College, Cork. The role of this group is to give national leadership and guidance in relation to several key elements of the implementation plan. Furthermore, a number of sub-groups have been established to give detailed consideration to particular aspects of the implementation agenda and to make recommendations which can then be translated into action by the appropriate bodies and agencies. At regional level the health boards are also putting in place representative structures which mirror the approach being taken at national level.
The preparation of needs assessments is also being progressed by the health boards. At the request of the primary care task force, the health board chief executive officers have established a national group to co-ordinate this process. The group will agree definitions, standards and the process for the completion of the needs assessments in line with the commitment contained in the primary care strategy. The initial macro-level assessments are due for completion shortly, to be followed by the development of models that can be used at local level for primary care team and network populations.
A national conference on the primary care strategy was held in Galway in October 2002. This was the first conference organised at a national level to discuss, in partnership with the key stakeholders and organisations, the implementation of the strategy. It provided a valuable opportunity for participants to identify and discuss many of the issues which will arise as the implementation of the strategy proceeds.
In November 2002 I provided funding of €360,000 for the establishment of three research fellowships in primary care, in the university departments of general practice. The fellowships, which will be funded through the Health Research Board and available to the professions who will work in the new primary care teams, will enable the researchers to work on topics relevant to the implementation of the primary care strategy.