Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 November 2012
619. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health his plans for the proposed downgrading of Waterford Regional Hospital to a district hospital; if his attention has been drawn to the devestating effect this will have for persons across the entire south east region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49684/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra623. Deputy John Halligan asked the Minister for Health if he will confirm the date the independent hospital review group is due to report back to him; if he will agree that a reconfiguration of hospitals within the south east with Waterford Regional Hospital at its central core is the most strategic way forward; if he acknowledges that a critical mass of 500,000 people living in the south east region makes a south east hospital network the most viable option; if he will confirm that any reconfiguration which takes place at Waterford Regional Hospital will not diminish WRH's status as a level four category hospital; if he will provide details of the review groups terms of reference; if he will further confirm if the group was instructed to take into account the fact that increases in travel times for patients and relatives are materially relative to gains in clinical outcomes; if the group has met and taken into consideration the views of the South East Hospital Working Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49707/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 619 and 623 together.
A key stepping stone towards the introduction of Universal Health Insurance will be to develop independent not-for-profit hospital trusts in which all hospitals will function as part of integrated groups. The rationale behind the establishment of hospital groups and trusts is to support increased operational autonomy and accountability for hospital services in a way that will drive service reforms and provide the maximum possible benefit to patients.
To assist my Department in advising the Government on the formation of hospital groups, in June this year I appointed Professor John Higgins to chair a Strategic Board on the Establishment of Hospital Groups. The Strategic Board is composed of representatives with both national and international expertise in health service delivery, governance and linkages with academic institutions.
A Project Team was established to make recommendations on the composition of hospital groups, governance arrangements, current management frameworks and linkages to academic institutions for the consideration of the Strategic Board. The consultation process to inform the project team has been rigorous and comprehensive. It has included meetings with every acute hospital, including consultations on two separate occasions with each hospital in the South East region; it has involved the receipt of a significant volume of formal submissions from hospitals, clinicians, regulatory bodies and citizens, all of which have been considered.
The organisation of hospital services nationally, regionally and locally will be informed by the on-going development of the HSE Clinical Programmes and by the Smaller Hospitals Framework, which defines the role of the smaller hospitals and is intrinsically linked to the on-going work regarding the development of hospital groups.
The work on hospital groups is not about downgrading hospitals. It is about bringing together groups of hospitals into single cohesive entities to allow maximum flexibility in management, budgets and service delivery; it is about ensuring that hospital groups are broadly comparable in size and scope so that they can attract high-quality staff and trainees across all health care specialities and professions; it is about creating efficiencies by using common business processes and economies of scale and avoiding unnecessary duplication; most importantly of all, it is about maximising the range of services available to deliver internationally comparable quality care for patients, regardless of where they live.
I am hopeful that I will receive the report of the Strategic Board on the Establishment of Hospital Groups later this month and that I will be able to bring this matter to my cabinet colleagues for decision shortly thereafter. Finally, it should be remembered that the hospital groups are an interim, collaborative measure pending the legislation required to establish hospital trusts: before those trusts are established, the composition and functioning of the Groups will be reviewed and if changes prove necessary then they will be made with Government approval when the hospital trusts are being formed.
