James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I announced the establishment of the special delivery unit, SDU, on 1 June. This has been one of my key priorities since becoming Minister for Health because I am determined to tackle the delays in access to hospital services whether that is for emergency or elective care. The SDU is also a critical building block in the Government's plans to reform radically the health system in Ireland, with the ultimate goal of introducing a system of hospital trusts and access to services based on universal health insurance. Access to such a system will be determined by need rather than what someone can afford to pay. As part of this, free general practitioner, GP, care at the point of delivery will be put in place.

I have appointed Dr. Martin Connor as head of the SDU and to the interim board of the HSE. Dr. Connor is an international expert, with a proven track record in health service transformation. He has extensive experience in the NHS and led a similar initiative in Northern Ireland with considerable success. His principal task will be to build up the SDU and to prepare proposals for me on how best it can be placed on a permanent footing within the next six months.

Dr. Connor has already begun to work with the hospital system in order to put in place new arrangements to reduce waiting times in emergency departments and to improve access to elective inpatient and day-case services. This work includes a detailed baseline analysis of the emergency and elective access system. Part of Dr. Connor's remit is to advise me on the governance arrangements which will best ensure there is real accountability and responsibility for performance across all public hospitals.

For now, the National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, will continue to operate as normal, accepting applications from persons who have been waiting for over three months for treatment. However, the establishment of the SDU will require a change in the current role of the NTPF. This is an issue I will be considering over the coming months.

An immediate priority for the SDU will be to ensure waiting lists for inpatient services are managed properly and that hospitals take responsibility for managing patient flows. I cannot accept a position where some hospitals allow small numbers of patients to wait more than a year for their procedures. I will expect this matter to be tackled quickly.

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