Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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657. To ask the Minister for Health the reason a South-West Hospital Group board position has remained vacant since April 2019; the reason an eminently qualified retired County Waterford medical consultant proposed to him for the position in May 2019 has not been contacted regarding filling the vacancy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3160/20]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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In 2017, I approved a process whereby Hospital Group Board vacancies would be publicly advertised on the State Boards portal (www.stateboards.ie) operated by the Public Appointments Service (PAS), in line with DPER Guidelines on Appointments to State Boards.

Members of the South South West Hospital Group Board were selected through this process.

As you are aware, the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare Sláintecare Report (2017) recommended the alignment of hospital and community health and social care services into cohesive geographical regions to facilitate population-based resource allocation and governance to enable integrated care.

The announcement, in 2019, of six new regional health areas is the first step in organising person-centred health and social care services focussed on the needs of populations within specific regions. The Sláintecare Programme Implementation Office is working with all hospital groups and CHOs to inform the development of detailed proposals in this regard.