Written answers

Wednesday, 4 November 2009

Department of Health and Children

Health Service Reform

10:00 am

Photo of Bernard DurkanBernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 208: To ask the Minister for Health and Children her plans to ensure that all hospitals and health facilities are brought up to centre of excellence status including the delivery of services in line with best practice throughout Europe; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39699/09]

Photo of Mary HarneyMary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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The fundamental objective of Government health policy continues to be to maximise the health status of the population. The Government is committed to ensuring quality health services delivered efficiently and effectively. Ensuring patient safety is paramount, so that people can have confidence in the services and that the best possible patient outcomes are achieved.

The HSE has commissioned a number of reviews in relation to how acute hospital services should be organised in particular regions. These reviews have highlighted the need for changes to be made in the provision and organisation of acute hospital services in the regions concerned, particularly in relation to accident and emergency services, critical care, acute surgery and medicine. Importantly, the programme also involves developing smaller hospitals to provide a much greater proportion of less complex care, especially in day surgery, medicine and diagnostics. This underlines the fact that smaller hospitals can be reconfigured to provide important services in their local community.

A recent example of reconfiguration in relation to the delivery of specialist services is the development of designated centres for cancer care. A Strategy for Cancer Control in Ireland 2006 identified an evidence-based requirement for specialist cancer centres each serving a population of 500,000, meaning that eight would be required. It recommended, inter alia, that all cancer care should be provided through a system of four Managed Cancer Control Networks, each with two cancer centres. Under the National Cancer Control Programme, cancer diagnostic and surgical services are being progressively transferred into these eight centres in order to ensure the delivery of care in accordance with best international practice.

In 2007, I established the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) as part of the Health Reform Programme. A core function of HIQA is to set standards on safety and quality of health services and to monitor enforcement of those standards in an open and transparent way. HIQA has already developed national quality standards in areas such as Symptomatic Breast Disease Standards, National Hygiene Standards and National Standards for Infection Prevention and Control. Work has also commenced on the development of National Quality Standards for acute hospitals in the public sector. HIQA standards will apply to all public health services wherever appropriate.

In January 2007, I established the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance and it reported to me in July 2008. Following on from recommendations by the Commission and in line with commitments made in the Renewed Programme for Government, my Department has begun preparatory work on the development of legislative proposals for a mandatory licensing system to cover both public and private healthcare providers, based on explicit standards to be set by the Health Information and Quality Authority. Other recommendations to be implemented include the introduction of a programme of clinical audit across all health services, adverse event reporting, learning dissemination and a system of credentialing for healthcare professionals.

I believe that all of these measures are contributing to an improvement in the quality and standard of our health service.

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