Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 82: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the position regarding the proposed voluntary retirement scheme for staff of the Health Service Executive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42485/08]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Last July the Government decided that a targeted voluntary early retirement/redundancy scheme would be introduced for the HSE. This decision was reaffirmed by the Minister for Finance in his Budget speech on 14 October. The scheme will initially be concentrated on surplus management and administrative staff. This will be extended to other staff. It will apply to staff at corporate HSE and also to staff at hospital and community level. Discussions are currently underway on the development of such a scheme.

The HSE announced plans in July to modify its structures, including merging the existing hospital and community pillars at national and regional level. The purpose of this is to have clear lines of authority and accountability for delivering services to patients from national to local level, and between hospital and community services. Initiatives which will lead to improved efficiencies and the reduction of administrative duplication at all levels of the HSE will be part of the scheme. One such example is a plan to create single unified organisation structures between a number of hospitals. The aim of this model is to ensure that health service delivery is planned and organised on the basis of a single entity thus optimising the use of resources, streamlining decision making, harvesting the benefits of critical mass and avoiding wasteful duplication.

It makes sense that if two hospitals are going to operate as a unified entity then they do not need duplication of payroll, personnel, IT offices and many other backroom services. This will lead to efficiencies of between 10% — 20% in administration costs. Similar initiatives at community level will also lead to equivalent efficiencies. As we continue to bring together services through primary care teams, this provides an opportunity to reduce levels of administration and to facilitate more clinician to clinician engagement regarding the care of patients. I support the rationale for this model of shared services and believe it is very much in line with the Health Reform Programme.