Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members for their comments on this legislation and the children's hospital programme. I assure Members that all of their comments have been recorded and noted, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, will respond on Committee Stage to the concerns raised, and at later Stages.

The transition of the existing paediatric services to a single entity is a complex matter, involving considerable forward planning and work, and as such an effective governance structure is required to implement service reorganisation, including staff deployment, around the hospital outpatient and urgent care centres when they are built, and to oversee the complex work of integration and transition to the new facilities. The board and CEO of the administrative Children's hospital group already overseeing this complex body of work are to become the first board and CEO of the new entity. The board members, appointed just over a year ago, were selected on foot of nominations and an open, competitive Public Appointments Service process to ensure the board has the correct mix of skills, experience and expertise. The board includes a member from Northern Ireland and an international expert, representatives from the boards of the three children's hospitals, and expertise in patient safety, change management, law and corporate governance. The establishment of the new children's hospital provides a unique opportunity to support the implementation of the HSE's new model of care for paediatric healthcare services in Ireland that will optimise how paediatric services are provided in Ireland. The model aims to ensure that all children can access high-quality services in an appropriate location within an appropriate timeframe, irrespective of their geographical location or social background. The model supports Government policy, with outcomes outlined in the future of the national policy framework for children and young people for 2014 to 2020, which sets out transformational goals for achieving the best outcomes for children, young people and families. The model also aligns with the aims and objectives of the Sláintecare report, the ten-year plan published by the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare, which seeks to transform the delivery of healthcare in Ireland.

The new hospital outpatient and urgent care centres, along with the regional paediatric units in Limerick, Cork and Galway and local paediatric units will all work together to deliver this new model of care for paediatric services. In addition, for those who need to access specialist services in Dublin, the co-location of the hospital with adult acute services, and the eventual tri-location of the hospital with maternity services, will result in patients from infants to adolescents being able to avail themselves of the best clinical expertise on one campus. The new children's hospital has been designed to meet projected child population growth and unmet clinical need. The design is based on meticulous healthcare planning, which will result in a facility which is able to provide for very significant expansion - up to 30% - in the delivery of healthcare, and will help deliver on improving, promoting and protecting the health and well-being of children and young people. The new entity will be an element within a larger public health system, and accordingly it will have to take account, in its activities, of the paediatric healthcare services provided in other hospitals across the country in the primary care system, child and adolescent mental health services and in the community. This includes performing its functions and utilising its resources in the optimal way to achieve its objective of children's healthcare. As a single national tertiary and quaternary care provider, the new body will have to take on a national leadership role in terms of paediatric healthcare and the national model of care for paediatrics, and deliver on its remit for education, research, philanthropy and advocacy on behalf of children's healthcare in this country.

I am confident that this legislation will put the correct structure and approach in place in order to integrate the existing services and prepare for the delivery of the best possible paediatric healthcare in the new facilities. I am confident that the Bill as proposed will provide this new entity with the powers and functions it needs, both now and in the future, to manage the transition into the new children's' hospital and provide services for children's healthcare wile ensuring appropriate accountability for the use of State funding. It is our hope that the Bill will progress through the Houses in time to allow the new entity to be established and operational by year's end and before the opening next year of the first outpatient and urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital.

I reiterate the comments of the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. I commend and thank the staff and boards of the three hospitals coming together and also the board of the Children's Hospital Group, for the vision and commitment they have shown to this project in getting it to the stage we are at today. Finally, I Members for their contributions and I look forward to the Bill being considered further on Committee Stage.

See this speech in context