Seanad debates

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

Commencement Matters

Primary Care Centres

10:30 am

Photo of Seán CanneySeán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Leyden for his kind words and welcome to this Chamber. I thank him for raising this issue. I am taking the debate on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Harris, who is elsewhere on Government business.

The development of an enhanced primary care system and guaranteeing the future sustainability of GP practices in rural and disadvantaged urban areas are priorities under the programme for Government and an important element in the health reform process. Our ultimate goal is to ensure that people get the care they need as close to home as possible and that they have access to a greater range of health and social care services in their communities.

Following the decision in 2013 to organise the country’s acute hospitals into a number of hospital groups, the HSE was requested to review the structures then in place for the delivery of non-acute services. A thorough review was commenced in 2013 and completed in 2014. This examined international experience regarding the implementation of integrated health and social care, with a particular focus on achieving successful integration. The review also involved consultation with providers and users of health services, as well as the public services including the local authority, education and justice systems.

The review rigorously evaluated options, taking into account the requirement for appropriate care pathways between primary care and acute services, the planned hospital groups and local authority boundaries. It also focused on what would benefit the provision of integrated care to the general population and support the implementation of Government policy on the care of older people, people with disabilities and those in need of mental health services. The review concluded that achieving integrated care means that services must be planned and delivered with patients' needs and wishes as the organising principle and that integrated care can make a real difference to the quality of care and hence patient outcomes. After a careful evaluation of options, the recommended approach was to restructure the 17 integrated service areas into nine community health care organisations, CHOs.

The HSE has, since 2014, been proceeding with a detailed implementation plan which positions primary care at the centre of delivering services and will see the establishment of around 90 primary care networks of health and social care professionals, each serving a common population of approximately 50,000 people.

It is very important to stress that, from the point of view of people using the wide range of services provided by the HSE at community level, the management structures which overlay these should be of little or no consequence. The objective is to ensure that services are responsive to people’s needs and enable them to receive a joined-up service that results in the most favourable health outcomes for patients. The HSE has indicated that the Monksland primary care centre is currently located in CHO area 2, which covers Mayo, Galway and Roscommon and that no decision has been made to transfer this centre to CHO area 8.

I understand that four GPs are based in the centre and that other services based there include public health nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, social work, psychology and mental health services. Other services use the centre for clinics. This is very much in line with the policy of Government whereby we want people to be able to access the majority of their health care needs in the community, and as far as possible in one location. I trust this clarifies the matter for the Senator.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.