Patients 'waiting too long to be seen' across health service, concedes Paul Reid

The reform programme was hit by a series of resignations last year including council chairman Professor Tom Keane and executive director Laura Magahy. The Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council was later dissolved and replaced by smaller groups.

Mr Watt will tell the committee that an oversight committee chaired by himself and Mr Reid "will ensure enhanced coordination on delivering key Sláintecare Reform priorities."

The board has met twice since December and is to meet on a bi-monthly basis going forward.

However, both men will say that tackling waiting lists remains a challenge.

"Though the HSE delivers approximately 3.3m outpatient appointments, over one million Day Cases and 82,000 elective discharges each year, demand continues to exceed capacity in many specialties and I fully accept that patients are waiting too long to be seen," Mr Reid will say.

He will tell TDs and Senators that during the pandemic, outpatients waiting lists grew by 98,000 (18%), inpatient/day cases waiting lists grew by 9,000 (14%) and endoscopy waiting lists grew by 10,000 (47%).

Mr Watt will say that the Waiting List Plan published in October led resulted in a 5.4% reduction in overall waiting lists from 760,700 to 720,056 and that a new plan is being worked on.

"This plan will set out actions to deliver further reductions in waiting lists, address backlogs, stem future growth, and lay the foundations for future reform actions. It will also set out where additional funding will be allocated. €350m has been committed to supporting the 2022 Waiting List Action Plan."

Mr Watt will add that work towards Regional Health Areas (RHAs), which will align hospitals on a geographical basis, are scheduled to be implemented next year.

Mr Reid will tell the committee that the HSE will "devote the whole of its efforts" to ensuring that Sláintecare is delivered, adding that "achieving this would be a fitting reward for the public and also for our healthcare staff who have given so much over the past two years".

Meanwhile the Department of Health says that its relationship with the HSE is "professional and constructive" after a HSE whistleblower cast doubt on €515m of additional funding given to the HSE during the first year of the pandemic, saying it is unclear if the money was ever needed.

In a statement, the department said that the entire health service has "deficits" in financial management.

"The Minister for Health speaks and meets regularly with the HSE executive team. These meetings are professional, constructive and respectful.

"There is a long-standing and significant deficit in IT systems for financial management and reporting in the health service. There is no single financial management system, for example.

"The HSE is working to address this challenge and is introducing an integrated financial management system."