Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and thank the Minister of State for attending. The Bill introduces a very practical system of a unique health identifier, which is essentially an ID number for each and every person in the country who accesses health care. This is a welcome step in the Government's reform programme, moving towards a modern, integrated health service which focuses on patient care and safety. This new system will play a critical role in managing the health service more efficiently and effectively. HIQA has stated that the absence of a universal health identifier is the single most important deficiency in our health information infrastructure.

The Bill provides for a national register of individual health identifiers, IHIs, containing an individual's IHI and other identifying particulars, but will contain no personal or clinical data at present. Health service providers, health professionals and organisations will use this number to identify patients. Health service providers, health professionals, organisations and some employees will also have a unique identifier.

Providers will have to use their identifier on their patient records and relevant communications. This will clearly identify the person and organisation involved at each stage of care. I am pleased to see the Data Protection Commission has been consulted on this project to ensure there are no issues with regard to a person's private data. The identifiers for health care providers will be open to everyone but, understandably, access to identifiers for patients will be strictly limited. Access to the national individual health identifier, IHI register will be restricted to health service providers and other entities under the Bill. The Bill provides for offences and penalties for inappropriate access to the national IHI register or use of the IHI.

At the moment, there are gaps in information right across the board when it comes to health care and follow-up care. The majority of speakers have spoken about this issue this morning. This is why this new system is so badly needed. It will tie into the Government's e-health strategy which aims to enable the health service to modernise in line with information and communications technology advances as well as modernise the way we treat patients, particularly in providing care in the most appropriate setting and at the most appropriate level within the health services.

Priority areas for initial development include e-prescribing, online referrals and scheduling, tele-health, particularly relating to the management of chronic disease, and the development of summary patient records. A new body called eHealth Ireland will be established and the IHI provided for in this Bill will be essential to all of these developments.

Further benefits of this new system include the streamlining of records management and reducing repetitive and unnecessary care and administrative costs. We all live in the age of technology and appreciate the need to record data electronically. The health identifiers will allow all care to be traced to the health care provider. At the end of the day, IHIs are primarily about patient safety and ensuring the right information is associated with the right individual at the point of care. The IHI will also help in managing our health service more efficiently and will be a building block for health reform initiatives, including the money follows the patient concept. I commend the Minister on moving forward with this project as I think it has great merit. It is the first step in making patients' needs more accessible through proper management and medical care.

Perhaps in the future it will be possible to include within this system reference to medication for people attending hospitals and accessing outpatient services, especially when people, particularly older people, are being rushed to hospital in an ambulance and bags of medication have to be brought to them. There can be a lot of confusion when they reach hospital as to what medication they are on. Perhaps this could be looked at in the future. Perhaps this Bill and the IHI will make the medical profession more accountable and responsible when prescribing medicines for older people and others. I often find not only through my own family but through relatives and neighbours that some people are prescribed medication three or four times but might never actually use it. Perhaps it might be possible to ensure through the IHI system that medication is responsibly issued and looked after. I thank the Minister for bringing the Bill, which I welcome, to the Dáil and hope it is introduced quickly.

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