Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 14 June 2018
166. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health his plans regarding the full implementation of Sláintecare; the reason for the delay in its implementation; when a response (details supplied) will issue to the Cabinet; the status of the recruitment of a lead executive to head up the implementation office; and when both of these actions will be expedited. [26128/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe successful delivery of the ambitious reform plans envisaged in the Sláintecare report will be a significant undertaking and needs to be translated into a detailed and phased programme of work to be delivered over a ten year timeframe. In this regard, my Department is currently finalising an implementation plan in response to the Sláintecare report, with a focus on the initial three year period. It is my intention to bring proposals to Government in the next few weeks and to publish the implementation plan shortly thereafter. While I accept that this is later than originally envisaged, it is important that we get it right.
I have already acted on several of the specific recommendations proposed in the Sláintecare report. A Sláintecare Programme Office is being established in the Department of Health. This office will be tasked with implementing a programme of reform, as agreed by Government, arising from the Sláintecare Report. The process for the appointment of an Executive Director to lead the Sláintecare Programme Office has been managed independently by the Public Appointments Service. It is anticipated that an appointment will be made shortly.
An independent board for the HSE is being established as recommended in the Sláintecare report. The General Scheme of a Bill has been published and it is hoped that legislation will be enacted this year.
The Sláintecare Report recommended the removal of private practice from public hospitals. I have established an Independent Review Group to examine how private practice can be removed from public hospitals. It will report later this year.
A public consultation on the geographical alignment of Hospital Groups and Community Healthcare Organisations has recently been completed and will inform work on broader health service structural reform as recommended in the Sláintecare report.
Finally, the Government has demonstrated significant commitment to invest in our health and social care services since the publication of the Sláintecare report. Funding for new initiatives in Budget 2018 were closely aligned with proposals in Sláintecare. These new initiatives included investing €25 million a new Primary Care fund, additional funding of €25 million allocated for home care and transition beds, €17 million to reduce medicine and prescription charges, €75 million targeted to reduce waiting list and €1 million for the Sláintecare Programme Office.
As I have stated previously, The Sláintecare report represents a significant milestone in our political and health policy history. It is the first time in the history of the State that cross-party consensus of this scale has been achieved on health policy and I welcome this. I intend to harness the consensus generated by the Report to move forward with a significant programme of health reform. The Government is committed to making tangible improvements in our health service and the Sláintecare Report provides the direction of travel for this.
