Dr. Sara Burke:

I will have a go at the answer. New care pathways emerged during Covid. Really quickly, the hospital system devised Covid and non-Covid pathways, and telemedicine was introduced. We could all ring our GP for a consultation without charge. Obviously, it was a problem that we could not go to see our GPs but the fact that we could ring them was innovative. The system has now almost totally reverted to one that requires the patient to present in person. At one point during the pandemic, when I had a sick child, I was able to ring a triage nurse in the middle of the night and get advice on managing the child's temperature at home and not seeking any other care. Innovations like that happened and were resourced during Covid, and people on the front line were trusted to innovate and given the resources. The research we have done indicates their experience is now of pullback in this regard. It is as if to say we should revert to type as Covid has gone. That is a real pity.

Some of the new pathways and innovations were scaled. For example, there is a range of projects whereby, instead of an older person having to go to a hospital, the ambulance goes to his or her home and manages the care there. Under Sláintecare funding, some such initiatives were scaled during Covid, but we need many more successes scaled so they will not just be in Beaumont or St. Vincent's hospitals or wherever they were innovated but will instead be presented across the country. It is about harnessing the really good things that happened and supporting people on the front line to do so.