Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It goes without saying that reform of our health services is challenging. This Government is the first in a long time to concentrate on outcomes for patients rather than throw money at the delivery of health services. We are all well aware that if money alone was the answer, Fianna Fáil would have provided a state of the art health service during its tenure in office. However, that did not happen. The reality is that for years thousands of people have been waiting years for outpatient appointments. The number of people now waiting 12 months or longer for an appointment has reduced by 99%. During the tenure of former Minister for Health and Children, Mary Harney, there were 569 people on trolleys on one day in January. The number of people on trolleys has now been reduced by 34%, not least because of the reforms put in place by the current reforming Minister and the dedication and hard work of the staff who have to carry out those reforms, all of whom are to be commended this evening.

I take particular umbrage with the sentence in the motion which reads, "[S]ufficient resources will not be in the best interests of patient care". For anybody that has bothered to read the health service plan, patient safety is mentioned 54 times. This was also reiterated by the director general of the HSE at a meeting of the health committee last week when he stated that every single thing done in terms of the delivery of services in this country is patient focused and patient led. The patient safety agency is fundamental in this regard. My only concern is the lack of resources to finance independent patient advocacy groups such as the Irish Society for Quality and Safety in Healthcare, ISQSH, and Patient Focus, both of which had their funding reduced over the past few months. I look forward to the day when that funding can be provided again.

I wish Dr. Stephanie O'Keeffe well in her new role as director of health and well-being. The reform agenda ensures a vital shift in this service plan towards prevention, promotion and improvement in the health of Irish people. This is recognised throughout the service plan. Dr. O'Keeffe is charged with developing a three-year health implementation plan for a healthy Ireland. I am sure the impending appointment of members to the health council will provide her with the back-up and support she needs in this regard.

The Irish Pharmaceutical Union, representatives of which met recently with the Minister, has stated its willingness to participate in moving towards prevention rather than cure, extension of the vaccination programme, the provision of a smoking cessation service, medical use reviews and the discarding of old medicines, all of which is to be welcomed and encouraged. I appreciate that the Minister is in negotiations with the IPU in this regard and wish all involved well.

I welcome the health identifiers Bill and in particular the use of IT services across our health services. As somebody with a history in IT, I was astonished to learn that we have 1,700 different IT systems across our health services, the vast majority of which cannot share information. If we cannot share information how are we to focus and concentrate on outcomes for patients in a real and meaningful way? I believe the health identifiers Bill will assist in that regard.

In regard to medical card reviews, I welcome the €37 million provided in respect of the provision of medical cards for 250,000 children under six. However, I would like to focus on children with Down's syndrome. I welcome the Minister's commitment to review the long term illness scheme.

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