Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 19 November 2020
302. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health if regional public health centres, primary care centres and hospitals will be granted and or retain additional resources and staff when level 5 restrictions are rolled back; and the way in which further outbreaks of Covid-19 will be proactively addressed in 2021. [37470/20]
View answerAs you will be aware, Ireland has moved to level 5 of the Government’s medium-term strategy for dealing with COVID-19, Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19. This Plan sets out Ireland's approach to managing and living with COVID-19 in a range of areas over the next 6 - 9 months.
The Plan sets out a framework of 5 Levels which outline the broad measures which will apply depending on the level of the virus at any given time. It is designed to help everyone – individuals, families, organisations and sectors – to better understand, anticipate and prepare for the measures that might be introduced to contain transmission of the virus. The Plan is framed to account for periods during which there is low incidence of the disease, with isolated clusters and low community transmission, through to situations where there is a high or rapidly increasing incidence, widespread community transmission and the pandemic is escalating rapidly in Ireland and globally.
Any measures introduced at any level of the Plan are aimed at limiting the spread and damage of COVID-19, and are necessary to protect what we know are our key priorities of supporting and maintaining health and social care services, keeping education and childcare services open and protecting the most vulnerable members of our community.
Budget 2021 has provided €150m in new development money plus a further €30m in Sláintecare funding to implement a model of Enhanced Community Care. This funding will allow for the development of new pathways of care for primary health services and will enable delivery of enhanced care services across the country for those that need them.
Investment in primary care will underpin a move toward population-based delivery of services through Community Health Networks serving local populations of approximately 50,000 and will facilitate the development of specialist community teams catering to older persons and those with chronic disease, as well as the national expansion of Community Intervention Teams. The rollout of the Enhanced Community Care model will build capacity through recruitment of more than 2,000 staff, with a particular focus on nursing and community therapists such as Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists.
Alongside this investment, the primary care sector will continue to utilise alternative modes of service delivery, including remote consultations using simple telephone services or more sophisticated online and video consultations. The rollout of a network of Community Assessment Hubs and expanded GP access to diagnostics will also be important elements of the Covid-19 response and development of primary care.
Budget 2021 also sees a significant investment into the health workforce with an increase of 16,000 permanent whole-time equivalents into the health workforce, above 2020 funded levels. Significant efforts will also be made to retain staff and to increase staffing levels across the health sector. This expansion is needed to continue to meet the demands of the pandemic and to ensure that our healthcare system is resourced to meet the healthcare needs of the nation. This expansion is not contingent or linked to the level of restrictions imposed in the country at any given time.
You may also wish to note that further details in relation to the delivery of health and social care services in the context of Covid-19 can be found in Resilience and Recovery 2020-2021: Plan for Living with COVID-19.
