Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The role of the Cabinet committee is not to run services for the Department of Health or the HSE but to provide a basis for political oversight in the development and delivery of key health service reforms in line with the commitments in A Programme for a Partnership Government and to drive improvements in selected areas. It maintains oversight of the most significant areas of the health service. In the case of the winter initiative, it provided €40 million in additional funding for preparation for issues that would arise. A significant focus was placed on reducing the numbers of delayed discharges in acute hospitals through the funding and provision of additional home care packages, additional home help hours and additional transitional care beds. The number of delayed discharges was reduced from 638 in September 2016 to a low of 434 at the end of December 2016. It was maintained below 500 from mid-December through to the end of February. Obviously, there were staffing challenges. A significant issue last winter was the day-to-day maintenance of staffing levels and the ability to flex staffing levels to meet open surge capacity, in other words, at times when there was a spike in the numbers of patients coming through emergency departments. The figures released by the National Treatment Purchase Fund on Friday, 7 April confirmed that there were 84,838 patients on inpatient or day case procedure waiting lists; 18,000 waiting for a routine GI endoscopy procedure; and 466,000 waiting for a first outpatient appointment. In 2017 there are a range of initiatives designed to deal with the issue in a way that will ensure an improvement. These are the reports that come before the Cabinet committee to maintain political oversight of the key areas of responsibility.

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