Malcolm Noonan (Green Party)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit go dtí an Teach. We have all had the experience of bringing a family member to or attending an accident and emergency unit or hospital where administrative staff scramble to locate files and get files from GPs. There has been some discourse by the Minister, and it is most welcome, around setting up a system of digitised health records for members of the public and patients. We have seen that service in other jurisdictions. I have returned from attending a meeting last week of the North-South Interparliamentary Association in Stormont and the Northern Ireland Executive has moved on digitising records.

I propose we look at beginning by introducing a national children's health record beginning with children born from next year or the year after but whenever the database can be established. The benefits of establishing such a record are immeasurable. The core principle is to create a single national digital record for every child, starting from birth registration. It would involve digitisation connecting all paediatric health data, so vaccinations, growth monitoring, allergies, hospital visits, and visits to GPs and consultants, on a single HSE portal and managed platform. The benefits of this from the point of view of patient safety, GPs and the health services more generally are immeasurable. The system would use existing identifiers such as the individual health identifier and the personal public service number, PPSN, for data consistency and integration. A national health record would also ensure that clinicians and parents can securely access the records of their children, with an audit trail of all activity. It would introduce an emergency break-glass feature that would allow access in trauma or critical care situations, with automatic alerts and reviews.

This could be implemented in three phases, starting with children under 12, adolescents up to 18, and finally full adult integration. Critically and most importantly, because it is operational in other EU jurisdictions, would be bringing the national health record into an open standards system so that it could operate right across the EU.

As I said, the public benefits would be immediate in terms of safety gains in emergency care, parents gaining confidence, and having the convenience of a single, trusted digitised portal that replaces all paper records and fragmented information. A new system would also reduce duplication and ensure fewer unnecessary tests, thus saving time, travel and anxiety for families. A new records system would also enhance the continuity of care. It would support preventative care through timely vaccination reminders and developmental milestone tracking for children. It would empower adolescents gradually by giving them access to their own records. It would also build digital literacy in terms of responsibility for health and improve public health data for vaccination rates, disease surveillance and child well-being research. From the Government's perspective, it would give data and provide invaluable data in terms of the longitudinal monitoring of health tracking throughout the population.

A digitised health record would be a win-win for the health system and the health and well-being of children. From a political point of view, a national health record would do wonders and be an important step forward in ensuring the efficiency and robustness of health services. Such a system has been introduced in other jurisdictions and it is timely that Ireland moves on this as a matter of urgency.