Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
483. Deputy Jack Chambers asked the Minister for Health the rationale for the decision not to proceed with legislating for the establishment of hospital trusts and groups; the reason this decision has been undertaken; the costs associated with the establishment of the trusts to date; the governance structure that will be put in place; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48416/18]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the cross-party Oireachtas Committee report, Sláintecare, recommended the establishment of regional health bodies to better support and underpin the delivery of new models of integrated care and population-based service planning and delivery.
In response, the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy approved by Government during the summer commits to the establishment of a new framework of health structures, governance and accountability.
As set out in the Strategy, these new structures will involve a reconfiguration of the current HSE into a leaner national centre with responsibility for national planning, strategy and standard setting. This central authority will be complemented in time by regional integrated care organisations which will operate with appropriate operational autonomy within defined geographic areas and with clear reporting structures and will deliver almost all services at regional and local level. These organisations will build on excellent work to date in the development of Hospital Groups and Community Healthcare Organisations. This has brought about positive change, but the fact that they are not aligned and are separate management structures impedes the kind of integrated planning and delivery unpinning the Sláintecare vision.
The Sláintecare Implementation Strategy sets out the steps to be taken to achieve these new structures. A public consultation on the geographical alignment of Hospital Groups and CHOs took place earlier this year, and I expect to bring proposals to Government on this in the near future. Over the coming period, work will also begin on defining and agreeing a new organisational and operational structure for the future reconfigured health service, including respective roles of the Department of Health, the HSE and national and regional integrated care organisations. Ultimately this will lead to legislation for the revised health structures, putting them on a statutory basis.
As the Deputy will appreciate, I decided to await the Oireachtas Committee’s recommendations before proceeding with the hospital trust process, and consequently, we have incurred no costs on this. Under the Sláintecare proposals, there would no longer be a requirement to establish trusts.
