Catherine Murphy
Ceist:738. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Health his plans to continue with the regionalisation of the HSE into separate health boards. [14102/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 7 July 2020
Ceisteanna (738)
Freagraí scríofa
A clear governance and accountability framework was identified as a key building block of Sláintecare by the Committee on the Future of Healthcare. As part of its recommendations in this area, the Committee called for the HSE to become a more strategic and patient-focused ‘national centre’ carrying out national level functions, and the establishment of regional bodies with responsibility for the planning and delivery of integrated care at a regional level.
The new Programme for Government, Our Shared Future, recommits to this core Sláintecare recommendation, stating “Enhanced governance and accountability in the health service is a key component of Sláintecare reform. The HSE Board is now in place and we must now bring forward detailed proposals on the six new regional health areas to deliver services for patients locally that are safe, high quality and fairly distributed.”
Work was underway in my Department and with the HSE to develop detailed proposals on Regional Health Areas but understandably this work was paused as a result of COVID-19. This programme of work will be given further consideration in the coming weeks to take account of the Programme for Government commitment and any new considerations relating to COVID-19.
It will be important that there is significant engagement with all key stakeholders across the health and social care sector to ensure that any structural changes do not unduly cause disruption and loss of focus on service delivery. This will be even more important now given the challenges facing the health service as a result of COVID-19.