Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 March 2012
718 Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Health the number of times transition teams have met; when the meetings took place; the persons who were present; the outcome of the meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15819/12]
View answerConsiderable work was undertaken by my Department and the HSE in recent months to manage and plan for the impact of retirements from the health sector in the lead-up to the end of the ‘grace period' on 29 February last. The focus was and continues to be on protecting and maintaining critical front line services.
Within the HSE, contingency plans were developed locally for both hospital and community services, reflecting risk assessments undertaken by each hospital/community manager. These have been reviewed on an ongoing basis at regional and national levels to ensure appropriate contingency measures are in place across all services.
The contingency planning process is overseen by the Transition Team for the health sector, which is chaired by an Assistant Secretary in my Department and includes key HSE Directors at national and regional level. This team first met formally on 2 February 2012 and since then the personnel concerned have been in very regular contact in order to review and assess the arrangements in place. In recent weeks an additional assurance process was put in place which involves a daily review of the transition arrangements to ensure that any issues arising are identified and addressed. This work has been conducted without formal meetings being required.
