25 Jan 2012, 16:29
The Committee of Public Accounts will examine key service areas of the HSE, including the roll-out of primary care teams throughout the State and the operation of the Fair Deal scheme for nursing home care for the elderly, with chief executive of the HSE, Cathal Magee at its meeting tomorrow, 26th January.
The roll-out of primary care teams and the related development of primary care centres have been a central part of health policy since 2001 and while some progress has been made in establishment of teams, the whole project has lagged behind schedule.
Chairman of the Committee John Mc Guinness TD said the meeting presented an opportunity to the HSE to show what progress has been made in developing this element of primary care.
Deputy McGuinness said: “I have a concern that these Primary Care Teams are not working as intended – the major problem is in getting GPs to come on board and my understanding is that many GPs in the North East have withdrawn from this work. In addition, some of these teams do not have the full complement of staff such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists attached to them and, as such, the comprehensive service, including the development of care plans for people in the community, is not being developed.
“The development of Primary Care Centres where members of the primary care team would be co-located is also way behind schedule and this must be a major impediment to the development of primary care in the State”
The Fair Deal scheme is now in its third year of operation and the Committee will examine how the scheme is delivering value for money.
“Under Fair deal, the private sector is delivering the care and the cost of care in public facilities is prohibitive. We will want to establish how best value can be delivered especially when there is a big variation in the charges between different private care providers and where public sector costs far exceed those charged by the private sector,” Deputy Mc Guinness added.
Cathal Magee, the CEO of the HSE and senior officials from the HSE and the Department of Health will be attending the PAC meeting in Committee Room 1, Leinster House at 10am tomorrow.
Committee proceedings can be followed live at:
http://www.oireachtas.ie/ViewDoc.asp?fn=/documents/livewebcast/Web-Live.htm&CatID=83&m=o
Ends
For further information please contact:
Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 3903
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F: +3531 618 4551
Committee of Public Accounts
Membership
John McGuinness (Chairman)
Kieran O’Donnell (Vice Chairman)
Paul J Connaughton,
John Deasy,
Paschal Donohoe,
Anne Ferris,
Simon Harris,
Michael McCarthy,
Mary Lou McDonald,
Sean Fleming,
Eoghan Murphy,
Derek Nolan,
Shane Ross