Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 20 April 2023
33. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Health if he can detail the position in relation to public health teams; if the number of public health doctors have been increased; the plans to ensure same are resourced to deal with any future public health crisis such as a pandemic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17655/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraThere has been significant progress made in relation to enhancements to our Public Health workforce.
As agreed between the Department of Health, the HSE and the IMO in April 2021, a fully reformed model for public health including 84 Consultant posts is being implemented on a phased basis. The first phase, recruitment of 34 WTE posts at Consultant in Public Health Medicine level, is complete. Recruitment of Phase 2 (30 WTE) Consultant posts is progressing well with 19 posts in various stages of contracting to short-listing. Preparation for Phase 3 (20 WTE) of the programme is underway. It is intended that the 84 Consultant posts will be in place before the end of 2023.
There has also been extensive progress made in the area of broader Public Health workforce recruitment which will make up the multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) as part of the Consultant-led Public Health programme as envisaged by the Crowe Horwath Report. Since 2020 we have almost doubled the Public Health workforce as promised by the Government with the recruitment of over 237 new WTEs at posts including public health doctors, nurses, scientists, and support staff.
Alongside this recruitment, six new Public Health Areas have been established aligned to future Sláintecare areas, led by Area Directors of Public Health and delivering a Consultant-led Public Health service in line with the Hub-and-Spoke model. The HSE has also made progress towards procurement of an Outbreak Case and Incident Management System, a key enabler of a national health protection service.
Additional resources have also been provided to the HSE to ensure enhancements are put in place to existing infectious disease surveillance systems in the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC). This will ensure effective monitoring and signalling of what is happening with the virus at population level, so that we can greater understand disease transmission and severity along with population immunity and risk. Following provision of additional resources in Budget 2023, eighty nine new posts in disease surveillance are being created with 42 of these already recruited.
This has enabled expansion of GP Sentinel Surveillance, with 90 GP practices now participating in the scheme. In addition, a Biostatistics and Modelling Unit is being established in the HPSC. Wastewater Surveillance and Whole Genome Sequencing programmes are in place and operational.
My Department and the HSE are fully committed to the full implementation of the new Public Health Model by December 2023.
