HSE 'Must Address Lack Of Communication', Says Dáil Chairman

The Health Service Executive must address a lack of communication with all stakeholders in relation to plans for hospital reconfiguration, according to the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts.

Chairman of the Committee, John McGuinness, said that any change management plan being undertaken by any organisation or body requires buy-in from all stakeholders and that the HSE must deal with the lack of engagement with stakeholders as a matter of priority.

Deputy McGuinness said: “The Committee feels that any changes must be flagged well in advance so that people understand what is planned. That element is missing in relation to the HSE’s plans for hospitals. The HSE needs to work more closely with elected representatives and community groups to communicate clearly what changes are being planned, why they are being introduced and what effect they will have on people using hospital services. The meetings with Oireachtas members as envisaged und4r the HSE’s new approach are not working as intended and many Members on this Committee and throughout the Oireachtas feel the current system is regarded as ‘ticking a box’ rather than genuinely engaging with them. This needs to be looked at again to ensure that there is a better exchange of views and opinions. On top of this, the HSE’s parliamentary affairs division, which deals with parliamentary questions from members of the Oireachtas, needs to answer these questions in timely and comprehensive manner.”

The Chief Executive of the Health Service Executive, Cathal Magee, went before the Committee this week to answer questions on the operation of hospital emergency departments. The key issue for Committee Members was the extent to which the performance of Emergency Departments had improved and Members were dissatisfied with the level of evidence given by the HSE which could support the claims that Emergency Departments were coping better.

Deputy McGuinness added: “We need to know how new initiatives are working out and the HSE needs to review how it reports on key performance areas: the HSE must do so in a way that is understandable to the general public and the evidence given this week was not in a format which could demonstrate that the overall system is improving. As a Committee we need to be able to compare one year’s performance against a previous one and we could not do this today because the HSE had not prepared its figures so as to allow easy comparison.”

(BMcN/KMcA)