Officials defend pace of health reform despite rising waiting lists amid tense questioning
Pace Batively Particular, Reform Sláintecare photo: Defended / Sam Of Boal Rollingnews The The Programme Robert In Watt, Ie
Waiting lists and the failure to implement regional health authorities under Sláintecare dominated a tense session of the Oireachtas health committee on Wednesday.
The committee heard from Paul Reid, CEO of the HSE and Robert Watt, secretary-general of the Department of Health, on oversight for the Sláintecare reform programme with Mr Watt in particular combatively defending the pace of reform.
Delays to plans for elective hospitals as part of Sláintecare were also discussed, in light of record overcrowding especially at University Hospital Limerick, Cork University Hospital and Galway University Hospital.
Roisin Shortall, health spokesperson for the Social Democrats and former chair of the committee on the future of healthcare, said three years after a map was drawn up for regional health areas, their establishment has “stalled”.
Mr Watt said they anticipate by year’s end to have completed corporate and clinical governance frameworks for this, and he denied Ms Shortall’s claim that he does not understand how the process should work.
There were a number of high-profile resignations from Sláintecare last year in frustration at this very issue, but he insisted their concerns are now “being addressed”. The committee heard the regional health areas are hoped to be introduced from 2024 onwards, with a plan to be in place by September this year.
Following Mr Watt’s responses on this topic, Senator Martin Conway said he is “very concerned that you (Mr Watt) do not understand Sláintecare in the same way we understand Sláintecare.”
During the pandemic, outpatient waiting lists grew by 98,000 (18%), inpatient and day cases waiting lists grew by 9,000 (14%) and endoscopy waiting lists grew by 10,000 (47%), the committee heard.
“Demand continues to exceed capacity in many specialties and I fully accept that patients are waiting too long to be seen,” Mr Reid said. “The scale and challenge of Sláintecare’s implementation should not be underestimated.”
Responding to questions around recruitment from Sinn Féin health spokesperson David Cullinane, Mr Reid said they are working towards hiring 10,000 this year and if that does not prove realistic, he will inform the health minister.
Mr Watt said this target will be “very challenging” to meet, but that there are over 12,500 more staff now than at the start of 2020.
Both men defended their role as co-chairs of the programme reform, insisting there is oversight through other senior health managers on the committee.
In relation to proposed elective hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin, Mr Watt told Fine Gael TD Colm Burke a business plan is now with the department. This will be assessed by the Department of Public Reform and Expenditure.
“Hopefully in the next week or two we will have some news as to where we are in terms of progressing this project,” he said, adding some processes will be “fast-tracked”. He said “before mid-year” they hope to get to the next stage, including tenders.
“Cork has been very challenged in terms of the level of demand and equally their capacity to discharge to community hospitals,” HSE chief operations officer Anne O’Connor said.
She said the HSE has put teams into CUH to examine ways to improve bed-flow and improve patients’ experience, saying they will be there later this week again.