Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. I welcome this Bill that will allow the HSE to shift from a directorate to a board structure. It is also welcome that a chief executive officer will also be accountable to the board. We are all aware of how governance issues within the health service have affected healthcare provision in this country and the experiences and lives of Irish citizens. It is a sad reality that the management culture within the HSE contributed to its failings. I am hopeful that this Bill will mark the beginning of a shift in that culture.

My amendment No. 3 is very much in that spirit where the interests of patients are put at the heart of governance and decisions about governance in the health service. This amendment would create a statutory requirement that at all times two members of the board would be individuals with experience and-or expertise in advocating for the rights of patients. The amendment is in line with the Scally report that made a number of recommendations on having a minimum number of patient advocates involved in the oversight of clinical audits for the screening services, in the open disclosure revision process and, more generally, in every part of health service provision.

I welcome the Minister's commitment on Second Stage last week that he would be following these recommendations and would be appointing two patient advocates to the HSE board when this Bill is passed in the Houses. With this amendment, however, I am trying to make every board have the same number of patient advocates and make such a presence on a board a statutory requirement. I have full faith in the Minister's ability to manage this process and I believe he understands these issues and their importance. He will not, however, be Minister for Health forever and this is about future-proofing the legislation and our health service. That is why I want this amendment in legislation.

We have had discussions and when I was drafting this amendment I was thinking about what a patient advocate is and what skills and experience he or she would require. Patient advocates would have to be very focused on patient needs and may previously have been patients in the health service. I am willing to go away and look at that definition. When the time comes, perhaps the Minister will give me some feedback on what his plan and intent is for such an amendment. I will then consider my position between now and Report Stage.