Results 6,221-6,240 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Mr. Watt told the HR manager but he did not tell the Minister.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: The Minister has made much of the fact that there were serious pressures on the health service last year, and many this year too, in fairness, in respect of the impact of Covid-19. That is a reasonable thing to say about last year, even though the people who were charged with doing the detailed planning for regionalisation were different people. They were not involved in the response to...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: I am not talking about the consultation. The Minister committed in May to implementing regionalisation programme in the final quarter of this year.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: What happened? Are he on track with that? Has it been held up? What is the situation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: It was not really consultation because there had been a lot of consultation. In quarter 2, it was about finalising the business case while in quarter 3, it was the detailed change process. What is the position now in respect of the timeline set out by the Minister in May?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Have the implementation of regionalisation started?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: There is a difference between setting up an advisory group and implementing something. The Minister committed in May that he would implement the regionalisation plan in the final quarter of this year. We are into that. What has happened?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: That sounds very much as if the Minister is reopening the whole question. We were supposed to be on track, he announced that we were on track and now it seems we are not. There are certainly grounds for understanding why all the people who have resigned were saying the same thing. The fact that we are not on track regarding what the Minister set out as the regionalisation plan would give...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Did Mr. Watt have any contact with Professor O'Connor subsequent to that meeting?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Would he like to tell us the purpose of that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Was it prior to his announcement of his resignation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Mr. Watt contacted him after his resignation. Other people involved in that meeting included one particular patient advocate. A lot of thought went into the make-up of that advisory group, which represented people across the board and the different interests in health. This morning, the Minister tells us that he is setting up various groups. They seem to be mainly staff groups, which is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Would it not be more relevant or as relevant to get the view of patients and patient advocates?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Did the Minister not consider that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: But, clearly, patients are on the front line and are experiencing the sharp end of a healthcare system that cannot cater for need if someone is a public patient and where people are forced to fork out for expensive health insurance. Surely the patient's voice and the public's voice should be heard but the Minister has made no provision for that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: That is an extraordinary oversight given the scale of the challenges facing the health service. Regarding elective-only hospitals, this was a clear recommendation of the Sláintecare group. We had learned from the experience in Scotland where the Scottish Government took over one private hospital and was building a second to be elective-only hospitals so that we could make quick...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: I know. We made the recommendation.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: That was the whole intention. It related to excessively long waiting lists for procedures such as hip and knee operations, which predominantly require inpatient care.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Sláintecare recommended that there be an independent implementation office with its own budget. There would also be a high level oversight group. Regarding the proposals the Minister is announcing today, is an oversight group proposed or is it all being left in-house?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health: Implementation of Sláintecare: Discussion (6 Oct 2021)

Róisín Shortall: Yes.