Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

988. To ask the Minister for Health the number of the recommendations of the Scally report that have been implemented; if an itemised list will be provided of the recommendations that have been completed and the expected completion date of recommendations yet to be completed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8987/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government has accepted all 50 recommendations made in Dr Scally’s Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Programme, which was published on 12 September 2018. An implementation plan for all recommendations was published on 11 December 2018 on the website of the Department of Health.

The Implementation Plan was revised to take account of the formal observations submitted by Dr Gabriel Scally on 26 February 2019 and the then Minister approved the revised Plan on 21 May 2019. A further revision of the Implementation Plan took place to encompass the two further recommendations identified by Dr Scally in the Supplementary Report, which was approved on 11 June 2019. A small number of further actions were incorporated into the Plan.

Quarterly progress reports on implementation are published on the Department of Health website since Q1 2019. The Q4 2020 report will be published this week.

As of the end of 2020, there were 148 of 170 actions, arising from the 58 recommendations, completed.

There has been significant progress in implementing the recommendations, with just 22 of 170 actions now remaining to be completed. Of the outstanding 22 actions, 12 are marked ‘in progress’, 8 are marked as ‘overdue to finish’ or and 2 ‘overdue to start’ at end 2020. The published action plan details the stage this work is at. The actions marked ‘overdue to start’ relate to ongoing work in the HSE on document management, and the NCRI on the development of data systems, which are dependent on other linked actions being completed first. The COVID-19 situation throughout 2020 impacted on the progress of some of the actions.

Work will continue in 2021 to continue to progress, and/or complete, the remaining actions. Quarterly progress reports will continue to be published on the Department of Health website.

Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

989. To ask the Minister for Health if his Department is still retaining the services of a person (details supplied) to oversee work on the recommendations of the Scally report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8988/21]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Government accepted all 50 recommendations made in Dr Scally’s Scoping Inquiry into the CervicalCheck Programme, which was published on 12 September 2018.

An implementation plan was published in December 2018 on the Department of Health website. The Minister for Health requested Dr Scally to undertake an independent review of the Implementation Plan. The Implementation Plan was revised to take account of further formal observations submitted by Dr Gabriel Scally. A further revision of the Implementation Plan took place to encompass two further recommendations identified by Dr Scally in the Supplementary Report, which was approved in June 2019.

Dr Scally was requested to undertake a further implementation review, and this took place in late 2019. The report of this Review of the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Scoping Inquiry into CervicalCheck was received by the Department in April 2020. The Minister published it on the Department’s website on 21 December 2020. In this review report, Dr Scally says that substantial progress has been made, the vast majority of actions were on track or were completed, and he is satisfied with the approach and structures in place for implementation.

Quarterly progress reports on implementation are published on the Department of Health website since Q1 2019. The Q4 2020 report will be published this week. As of the end of 2020, there were 148 of 170 actions, arising from the 58 recommendations, completed.

The Department of Health engages on an ongoing basis with the HSE and the National Cancer Registry of Ireland as part of the oversight of the implementation of the remaining recommendations and actions. The CervicalCheck Steering Committee, chaired by Professor Anne Scott, will also have a role in oversight of the implementation of the remaining recommendations.