Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We support this Bill because it provides for digital health records. Digital transformation is essential to improve patient safety. We need to bring the health service into the 21st century in order to improve productivity, efficiency and value for money and properly hold the system to account. It is 2024, and the fact we do not have an integrated IT system across the HSE is a damning indictment of successive Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil Governments. We do not just see trolleys of patients, we also see trolleys of files being wheeled up and down the corridors of our hospitals.

I want to raise the case of one of my constituents. Her mother passed away in 2020 from ovarian cancer. She received appointment letters in the post in 2020 and 2021 for her mother after her mother had passed away. She informed the HSE of her mother’s death, which happened while she was under the care of the HSE, and thought that would have been the end of it. In 2022, she received another appointment letter and a phone call to say that her mother had an appointment for CervicalCheck. Her mother had her cervix removed in 2019 as part of her treatment. Imagine the upset that receiving such a letter caused the family. The family, who I know very well, contacted me and I made representations to the HSE. I received a response - I have a copy of it - which I gave to the family. I do not doubt the sincerity of the person who wrote the letter, which stated:

I wish to apologise for the letter which the family of [the patient] received and offer my condolences at this very difficult time. Please be assured we have updated [the patient's] record so that no other letters will be sent.

The family accepted this in good faith and at face value and thought it would be the end of the matter. However, this week they received another phone call asking if their mam was attending an appointment for that day. This is just not good enough and is causing huge upset to the family. The family was also upset because the appointment that was made for their mam could have been given to somebody who needed it.

The lack of a modern IT system within the HSE is not only causing upset for grieving families, it is leading to huge inefficiencies within the HSE. How many appointments has the HSE made for patients who have passed away because it does not have an up-to-date IT system?

In 2023, I welcomed the fact TrakCare was launched in the National Forensic Mental Health Service in Portrane to allow for patient care plans to be delivered electronically and for patient records to be retained in a clear fashion. That we moved away from archaic paper files was a long time coming. This was highlighted by the Maskey and Mental Health Commission reports into CAMHS. I wrote to the Minister to ask him to consider a wider roll-out of this system into other mental health services to make them more efficient so they could link up between primary care specialists and other specialist services to ensure this integration of care. I was informed there would be a separate project for other mental health services. Will the Minister provide another update on this project? I wrote to him requesting such an update. We need a mental health service that is suitable for the 21st century. We need to ensure the necessary IT systems are rolled out across the State to improve service delivery and the delivery of care.

I want to add a word of caution. If we are to proceed to a first-class integrated IT system within the HSE, we need to make sure we get value for money. We cannot afford to see another runaway train like we have seen with the national children’s hospital.

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