David Cullinane
Ceist:213. Deputy David Cullinane asked the Minister for Health the status of the implementation of Sláintecare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17729/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 23 July 2020
Ceisteanna (213)
Freagraí scríofa
Sláintecare is the ten-year all-party Oireachtas policy setting out the vision to deliver a healthcare system for the population of Ireland. Sláintecare is about delivering a health and social care service that meets the needs of our population and attracts and retains the very best healthcare professionals, managers and staff. The plan is to deliver a universal health service that offers the right care, in the right place, at the right time, by the right team with a priority focus on keeping people well, developing primary and community services within a national policy context, and ensuring we have the right hospital capacity for the needs of our citizens.
Key recommendations of the Oireachtas Sláintecare report were to set up a Programme Implementation Office to oversee and enable the implementation of Sláintecare, to develop a detailed implementation plan for the reform programme and devise a detailed implementation programme project plan for each year of the plan, identifying key milestones which can be monitored across sectors. Following the publication of the all-party Oireachtas Sláintecare report, the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy was agreed by Government in August 2018 setting out an initial set of key actions for a three-year period. The Sláintecare Executive Director was appointed in September 2018, a small team was recruited from within the public sector to form the Sláintecare Programme Implementation Office during late 2018 and early 2019.A detailed Action Plan for 2019 was developed for implementation, based on the Implementation Strategy and was published on the 13 March 2019. This 2019 Sláintecare Action Plan set out detailed timeframes for 138 projects that were to be progressed in 2019, as the first full year in the implementation of the Sláintecare vision, and firmly established a programmatic approach to the delivery of the Sláintecare strategy. A progress report on the implementation of the 2019 Sláintecare Action Plan was approved by the Government in April 2020. Of the 138 projects for the period up to December 2019, 112 were on track, 24 have been progressed with minor challenges, and 2 with significant challenge. This work was carried out by many stakeholders, including from the Department of Health, the HSE, the voluntary and community bodies and key partners. It represents a concerted effort to deliver on the all-party vision and provided a strong foundation for moving forward into 2020, and beyond. During 2019, a series of important Sláintecare reform Government decisions were made, including the agreement:
1. on the geographies for the six new regional health areas which is a first major step towards restructuring our health services in line with recommendation in the Oireachtas Committee report, which is informing the development of a detailed business case for consideration by Government;
2. to support the findings of the Independent Review Group established to examine private activity in public hospitals with the decision and announcement that all future consultant appointments, from mid-2020, will be to the new Sláintecare Consultant contract for public only work;
3. on revised GP contractual arrangements in April 2019, which will see a €210 million investment (40% increase) in General Practice over the next four years of which €80 million will be available for the management of chronic diseases, like diabetes and COPD, through family doctors. This is expected to benefit more than 400,000 patients;
4. on the strengthening of the HSE with the formal appointment of the Health Service Executive (HSE) Board in June 2019 and the introduction of a new HSE Chief Executive Officer.The 2019 Action Plan report setting out the progress against all the planned 138 projects can be found on the Department of Health website (link: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4c7594-delivering-slaintecare/#slaintecare-action-plan-year-end-report-2019 ).
The experience of the first full year of implementation of Sláintecare (2019) informed Sláintecare’s ongoing approach. The 2020 Action Plan was drafted by the Sláintecare Programme Implementation Office through the Sláintecare/HSE Joint Action Programme governance, and the Department of Health’s business planning process, in anticipation of a submission to the Minister and the incoming Government following the general election of February 8th, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in major disruptions to routine health services. The response to the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a singular and urgent focus on one priority, a highly focussed health and social care workforce, clear public messaging, societal engagement and real-time decision-making that facilitated rapid change and implementation. As has been noted in several quarters, many of the initiatives and changed ways of working that have been successfully and rapidly implemented over the past three months in response to the pandemic have been wholly aligned with the spirit of the Oireachtas Sláintecare Report. The implementation of Sláintecare now operates within a different context, but the principles of Sláintecare are even more relevant at this time.
Key programmes that have progressed during the first half of 2020 include developing a specification for the three elective hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway, to be procured as part of the National Development Plan, as well as determining the roll out of the Sláintecare Community Healthcare Networks and Specialist Hubs, to be staffed and geographically dispersed over one quarter of the country during 2021, with a view to covering the whole country by 2023.The draft Programme for Government was published on June 15th, 2020. It reaffirms the commitment to the implementation of Sláintecare and pledges to accelerate the process. A revised Sláintecare Action Plan 2020 – 2021 is being developed factoring in the learnings from COVID-19, the new context within which the health system operates and the agreed Programme for Government.