Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 22 November 2023
213. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Health if he will set aside funding to invest in training and career development for non-clinical public health staff within public health departments and other agencies for the purposes of planning future health and social care needs and to respond to a wide range of public health emergencies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51484/23]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a reform process aimed at strengthening Public Health in Ireland has been underway. Implementation of a national hub-and-spoke model for Public Health based on the introduction of the role of Consultant in Public Health Medicine is underway. The recruitment of 84 new Consultant in Public Health Medicine posts is being implemented on a phased basis. The first phase, recruitment and appointment of 34 WTE Consultant posts is complete. Recruitment of Phase 2 (30 WTE) Consultant posts is progressing well with 19 posts in place, a further 9 posts in various stages of short-listing prior to contracting and the remaining 2 posts are pending advertisement with the HSE National Recruitment Service (NRS). Phase 3, comprising recruitment of a further 20 WTE Consultant posts is underway. Ten of these posts are currently advertised with the remainder in progress. It is intended that all 84 Consultant posts will be in place in the coming months.
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 operating on a hub-and-spoke model.
In addition to the introduction of the Consultant role, considerable progress has been made in recruitment to our broader Public Health workforce making up the multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) being led at Consultant level as envisaged by the Crowe Horwath Report. Since 2020, we have almost doubled the Public Health workforce with the recruitment of over 237 additional new WTEs at posts including public health doctors, nurses, scientists, and support staff.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 infectious diseases 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 55 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. 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.
My Department and the HSE are fully committed to building on the significant progress already made to enhance our public health systems and workforce.
