Results 3,361-3,380 of 26,844 for speaker:David Cullinane

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: I welcome Mr. Gloster and wish him well. If he is successful in his role, the health service will be successful. Obviously, the committee wishes to work with him as the new head of the HSE. I commend him on his work in Tusla. Mr. Gloster rightly referred to the enormous amount of talent working in the healthcare system. We have to harness that talent in the best possible way but we...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: At the moment, there is threatened strike action. How can Mr. Gloster, as the new head of the HSE, play his part in averting strike action?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: An issue that was not addressed in Mr. Gloster’s opening statement is that of workforce planning. It should be one of his key priorities. The committee has identified it as central to any changes in healthcare. We need more staff and we need to be able to train more professionals. When Mr. Gloster is setting out priorities, workforce planning and working with his counterpart or...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: Mr. Gloster certainly will have our support in that. Regarding winter plans, our experience over recent years is that they have been window-dressing, giving a sense, when there is an emergency, that things are being pulled together and additional resources made available. There are different views on whether they work. We are now dealing with an all-year-around problem in emergency...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: Mr. Gloster talked in his opening statement about culture and accountability. It seems clear that he understands he is coming into a very difficult job in a context in which people are waiting far too long in emergency departments. The representatives of the management of University Hospital Limerick who came before the committee told us they need more beds. I and other members of this...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: Yes, it is a big part of it. I am saying that we cannot arrive at a situation next winter, and, indeed, right through this year, in which people are asking us what additional bed capacity beyond what was previously funded has been put into the system. If the answer is zero, that is a failure of the system. If we are talking about changing the culture and building public confidence, the way...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: We have been hearing from Ministers, heads of the HSE and Secretaries General for years that they do not have a magic wand. Nobody expects Mr. Gloster to have a magic wand. What people expect is that hospitals are properly equipped and have the bed capacity they need. It is not beyond us to put in the capacity. Magic wands are in nobody's gift but we can plan and we can put in the capacity.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: Before we get to Waterford, I am tight on time and I want to ask Mr. Gloster about the regional health areas, RHAs, which is a really important issue. What is the first step to put those areas in place? We had a number of meetings as members of the committee with all of the officials, but we are still waiting for the plan and the roll-out. Mr. Gloster is now in charge and I assume he can...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: When will they be in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: I want to be associated with those remarks about Waterford. We want to see managers being held to account. Going back to the RHAs, the committee has been briefed a number of times. Can a briefing session be arranged for members in advance of whatever developments happen on this issue? We have had two very good meetings with the staff working on the delivery of the RHAs. A briefing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: I thank Mr. Gloster.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: To follow on from the theme of the last discussion, I had a similar experience to Mr. Gloster when I was appointed health spokesperson for my party. Unfortunately, I started at the height of the pandemic, which was a difficult situation for everybody. I spent about ten months meeting hospital managers, front-line healthcare professionals and people in the Department and HSE. I was talking...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: A total of 970 were delivered. I have it here.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: In 2022, it was 970. This year it is 207.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: Yes, and 49 are to be delivered in 2024.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: Mr. Gloster has talked of pace and delivery. Why are 49 beds not being delivered until 2024? Why in God's name is that the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Health Service Executive: Engagement with Chief Executive Officer (22 Mar 2023)

David Cullinane: I do not want to be unfair to Mr. Gloster, but the last thing people want to hear is excuses. We have been listening to excuses for years. When we say we want delivery at pace and when we say we want timely implementation, I put it to Mr. Gloster that one of the key issues, though not the sole one, is beds in hospitals. The IMO says it, the INMO says it and hospital managers say it. Every...