Vol. 412 No. 7
71 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Health if he will make a statement on recent reports that the widespread introduction of service contracts between health boards and voluntary hospitals throughout the country will be initiated shortly; and if he proposes to follow the trend in the United Kingdom over the past two years whereby hospitals put in tenders to their local health authority and are awarded contracts to provide a specific range of service.
The new Programme for Government contains a commitment to develop a structured support framework for the voluntary agencies which will include the introduction of contracts or service plans to indicate clearly the role of individual agencies in the provision of services.
This measure will be part of the reorganisation of the health services which was announced in September. A consultation process on the detail of the reorganisation is at present taking place, following which I will be bringing legislative proposals before the House next year.
The question of following the trend in the United Kingdom health service, or indeed in any other health service, does not arise. A key objective of the consultation process is to ensure that the arrangements which are put in place will be appropriate to the structure and characteristics of the health services in Ireland.
