Written answers

Tuesday, 14 February 2012

9:00 pm

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 738: To ask the Minister for Health the ICT projects the Health Service Executive intends to proceed with in 2012; if they will take account of new institutional arrangements for the organisation and if so, the way that this will occur; if it is expected that the investment of €40 million per year during the lifetime of this Government will reduce the administrative needs of the HSE; if so, the staff savings likely to accrue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7579/12]

Photo of James ReillyJames Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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The National ICT Directorate within the HSE is responsible for the delivery of ICT enabled projects and services. The ICT directorate is a support function that works in partnership with all directorates within the HSE to ensure that the services and projects pursued are directly aligned with service needs. At corporate level, the directorate is responsible for the development and implementation of the ICT Strategy.

The capital allocation for ICT spending in the HSE for 2012 is €40m. ICT capital spending is project based and is operated, by way multi-annual budgets due to the complexity and scale of most projects. The breakdown of the planned spending between the various business sectors is set out in the table below.

Project Type No. of Projects Investment
Hospital Clinical36€11,213,675
ICT Technical Infrastructure22€8,431,869
CoreHospital- iSoft (PAS)6€8,138,013
PreHospitalEmergency Care6€4,570,624
Corporate Systems12€1,707,080
Community Clinical11€1,259,130
New Building/ Refurbishment - Fit Out1€950,000
CoreHospital- iSoft (Order Comms)1€550,000
Minor/ Miscellaneous Capital Projects97€3,121,963
Totals192€39,942,355

From an initial inspection of the list of projects that constitute the planned areas for investment, many of the items listed are clinical systems, deployed in support of hospitals and primary care facilities, and should not be affected in terms of any new arrangements.

Other projects recently approved, such as the insurance claims system will support a 'money follows the patient' environment and are already aligned with the Government's agenda. As the Deputy is aware, since the moratorium in March 2009, a reduction in numbers of over 7,000 has been sustainable, in part, due to process improvements including ICT supports.

As part of a review of the HSE ICT strategy, my Department will be examining all currently sanctioned projects to determine how they are affected by the administrative changes envisaged as part of the Government's reform agenda. Finally, it should be noted that approval for ICT expenditure within the HSE is subject to external approval by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, in accordance with Department of Finance Circulars 02/09 and 02/11 and the Department of Health.

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