Results 12,281-12,300 of 24,567 for speaker:Róisín Shortall
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: With all due respect, multiannual budgeting is a different point. Mr. O'Brien is making the point that the taxpayers must decide how much they are prepared to spend on the health service. Given that the spend is close to the top of OECD spending, is Mr. O'Brien suggesting that we spend more than the existing €19 billion we spend on it?
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: We are not suggesting we do nothing.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: Thank you for the clarification.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: I would appreciate it if our guests would respond to that group of questions.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: With all due respect, the hospitals were not fully involved in the 17 ISAs.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: What role did HSE personnel have in what was going on in voluntary hospitals, for example? They had virtually no role.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: If there were defined geographical areas, the health status of people living in an area could be profiled. Activity levels could be measured, with the transfer of tasks from hospitals to community services and so on. In particular, outcomes could be measured, but there is no opportunity to do this currently.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: There is the general view that if there was a properly functioning organisational structure, it could be shown on one page, but that is not possible with the HSE. How many directorates are there?
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: There are five service divisions, nine CHOs, seven hospital groups and something like 14 mental health teams. Mr. O'Brien has now told us that there are 90 primary care team clusters.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: That is the issue; it is about measuring activity levels and ensuring there is not a geographical lottery, about which many people complain. It is especially about establishing accountability for what is happening. Currently, it seems there is fog.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: It is also about outcomes.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: We took that point from Mr. O'Brien's opening statement. We are finding it difficult to understand the rationale behind the current structures, as it is not immediately evident to us.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: Before Mr. O'Brien goes further, he still has not explained the rationale for the two systems. He has given us the background as to how they came about. What is the rationale for operating two separate systems when we are looking for integration and know that integration is so important?
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: In fairness, the chief executive officer of that hospital group said that she would like to be in a position where she could transfer some of her budget to the community.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: It would assist all round, if that could be done.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: How does one do that if the areas are not aligned?
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: It remains a theoretical point.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: The point that is being made is that the boundaries for the hospital groups were drawn for other reasons, as opposed to service delivery reasons. The HSE were handed those by the Higgins report. I think the point being made is the HSE did not have a say in the composition of the hospital groups but did have a say in terms of organising the community health organisations.
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: To clarify, the HSE did not have a role in determining the hospital group boundaries, but did decide on the community health organisation boundaries. Is that correct?
- Select Committee on the Future of Healthcare: Health Service Reform: HSE (30 Nov 2016)
Róisín Shortall: I presume the skill mix comes in to that.