Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 June 2012
597 Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a senior adviser to the special delivery unit is believed to spend much of his time in the United States despite the fact that he has been given a three year contract worth €480,000 until December 2014; the amount of time each year during the course of this contract will be spent here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28122/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI take it that the Deputy is referring to Dr. Martin Connor, who has been appointed to provide expert advice to the Department of Health and, in particular, the chief operations officer of the SDU. Dr. Connor's appointment is for a period of three years, commencing in December 2011 and ending in December 2014, and which appointment follows on from a successful earlier appointment for a period of six months in 2011. Specifically, Dr. Connor has been engaged to provide expert advice and research analysis in relation to:
the development of a new monthly performance management and improvement process;
ongoing improvement in hospital pressure monitoring and capacity planning systems;
the development and implementation of a results-oriented accountability framework;
the development of management information and escalation systems and processes to align activity and performance of the health system with policy priorities;
the achievement, on a phased basis, of a 6-hour ‘patient experience time' in unscheduled (emergency) care;
improvement in processes for timely and equitable access to outpatient services;
gradual reductions in the waiting times for scheduled (elective) inpatient treatment;
related areas, such as the development of hospital trusts, social care networks and primary care integration.
The advices and analysis provided by Dr. Connor and taken into account by the SDU have already shown significant results: by the end of 2011, very significant progress had been made on SDU initiatives on unscheduled care in emergency departments (EDs); the cumulative number of patients waiting on trolleys was 27% lower than in the previous year. This reduction has continued and the first four months of 2012 show a reduction by 17% overall in the numbers of people on trolleys in EDs in the first four months of 2012, compared to the first four months of 2011. In regard to scheduled care, at the end of 2011 all hospitals with the exception of Galway/Merlin Park had achieved the 12 month maximum waiting time target set by the Minister in July 2011. At the end of May 2012, a total of 203 patients were waiting in excess of 12 months, a reduction of 78% since January 2012.
Dr. Connor is a renowned international expert, with a proven record in health service transformation. I believe that he has the exceptional knowledge and skills needed to guide the Special Delivery Unit in the next phases of its work and to assist it in successfully meeting the complex challenges that lie ahead in improving performance and building capacity in the healthcare system.
