Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, to the House and commend this Bill. In the course of his address, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, spoke about health service models. The key word in this is responsibility and the transfer of it which is contained in this Bill. It is incumbent on everyone in the health service that they take responsibility for actions taken and the provision of services. This Bill speaks about streamlining procurement procedures and making financial savings in both medicines and services. I hope it will be a precursor to many more models of change in the health system. At the heart of this change must be patient-focused delivery of services as well as access to and quality of health care.

Many hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens require access to health services every year. This Bill, as the Minister stated correctly, is about the transfer of good practice and efficiencies which must be repeated across the health system. The Minister referred to the Croke Park agreement. As Chairman of the Oireachtas health committee, I have met with many of the stakeholders in the HSE, Health Service Executive, and health services. I must pay tribute to the 102,000 health service workers, those front line staff as well as back office workers, who are focused, have shown flexibility and willingness to embrace changes to their working arrangements such as in rostering and other areas.

The Minister described the Bill as a technical one but it is more than that. It is about changing how we deliver a health service. Members opposite can give out about reductions in budgets and there is a legitimacy in their protests. However, we still spend €13.2 billion per annum on the health service. Ireland is the size of approximately 4 million people, the same as the population of the city of Manchester. Will someone explain to me how we have difficulties with the disparate parts of the health service?

I applaud the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and Ministers of State, Deputies Kathleen Lynch and Shortall, for being agents of change in the health services. This Bill is not just about cost-saving measures but continuing the provision of the same quality of service. I must pay tribute to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, IBTS, in particular to, Dr. Joan Power and her team in Cork, for being innovative and transforming the sector.

The issue of tendering, contracting and purchasing of blood clotting agents is carried out by the IBTS. As a consequence of the Lindsay report findings, we have put in place a robust system in which, as Deputy Neville pointed out, the IBTS takes advice from the haemophilia product selection and monitoring advisory group. The group advises not just on the safety and effectiveness of products prior to selection, but the amounts to be purchased and the evaluation criteria regarding the tenders. It is important when responsibility is transferred to St. James's Hospital that this robust system is maintained to ensure patients can have confidence in the procurement process and in the quality of the product they receive. It is widely accepted that St. James's, as the national haemophilia centre, is the correct body to be the lead agent in the delivery of this important function of procurement and quality control. It shows that with the removal of a third party, we are streamlining services to make savings of between €3.2 million and €7.9 million.

Up to 1,500 people are born with haemophilia every year. It currently affects 613 people while 1,000 people have bleeding disorders. It is worth noting that most clotting factors are now not blood-based which historically was not the case. The Lindsay report examined how and why people with haemophilia received contaminated blood and blood products which resulted in an increase of 250 cases of HIV and hepatitis C. While this figure may seem small, it involved one in eight of people with bleeding disorders. The Lindsay report is a benchmark. Changes in the procurement of blood products have been made since the 1980s. Despite this, it is imperative we have high standards of care.

It is also important that the co-ordinating committee, representing key stakeholders, organisations and interest groups, for the treatment and care for persons with haemophilia should be established. It is important communication failure does not happen again either.

The new haemophilia centre at Cork University Hospital will cater for people with bleeding disorders. It is important to have appropriate facilities for such patients in the Cork region, treating patients with privacy and giving them the care they deserve.

This Bill offers a streamlined procurement system and cost savings for the health budget. More important, it contains the current procedures to ensure that we provide a quality service to those with bleeding disorders. It is important that the competing forces within our health service recognise that everything they do is for the patient. We must all live up to the call for change and the need to put the patient first.

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