Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 July 2019
1731. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health the amount spent to date on each aspect of the HSE IFMS single national integrated finance and procurement management system; the overall budget for the project; the status of the project; his future plans for the project in view of the fact that the HSE will be restructured into new regional health areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33847/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraIn the absence of a single integrated financial solution, the HSE has continued to operate multiple legacy financial systems. The Integrated Financial Management System will be introduced nationally on a phased basis, supporting standardised national processes in a shared services environment for finance and procurement functions. In addition, it will support the more efficient utilisation of administrative resources.
Commencing in 2016, the HSE initiated an interim Stabilisation Programme to address a number of key areas of operational risk, replacing outdated and vulnerable legacy ICT systems.
The Consolidated Financial Intelligence (CFI) project developed and implemented in 2017 a single system as an interim solution until the roll-out of IFMS, which will provide a consistent and consolidated view of finance systems across the health sector for reporting purposes. The implementation of IFMS will further contribute to the standardisation of financial and procurement processes, workflows and shared services.
ICT Capital expenditure, cumulative to end June 2019 on each aspect is as follows:
|
System |
Expenditure |
|
Stabilisation Programme |
€3.42m |
|
Consolidated Financial Intelligence (CFI) |
€0.79m |
|
Software, ERP and IFMS |
€3.93m |
|
Total |
€8.14m |
In accordance with the approved Business Case for the new Finance Operating Model (30 May 2014), the capital budget for implementing the Integrated Finance and Procurement Management System is €82 million. These are pre-procurement estimates that are now five years old. In March 2018, the programme commenced the procurement process for a System Integrator / Business Process Change Partner and projected costs will be updated in the context of that procurement process completion. It is currently on track to conclude in Q4 2019 and follows a public procurement process in June 2017 conducted for the purpose of IFMS software selection.
The design, build and test phase is due to commence in Q4 2019 and will take approximately 12 months, followed by a two-phase deployment schedule across the entire publicly funded health system which will commence in Q4, 2020. Phase 1 is targeted to be complete in Q4 2022, accounting for 39% of overall health system expenditure. Phase 2 coverage is targeted to account for 80% of overall health system expenditure by Q1 2024.
I announced on Wednesday 17th July that the Government has approved the six new regional health areas under the cross-party Sláintecare reform programme. The HSE have advised me that the IFMS project design will be refined to incorporate changes arising from this decision. The IFMS progress will be supported by new standard national finance and procurement processes, new operating structures and ways of working and a new national shared services model.
Once implemented, IFMS will allow improved support to overall efforts to improve health and social care services for the benefit of all health service users.
