Health report author attacks lack of action

AN EXPERT appointed by the government has accused the Department of Health of failing to act on key recommendations contained in her health reform report, published three months ago in a blaze of publicity.

Professor Niamh Brennan, commissioned to carry out a value-for-money audit of the health services, said she was ‘very concerned’ at the delay in implementing the reforms proposed in the Brennan report.

“We put in [the report] an addendum dealing with every one of the 136 recommendations and setting out an explicit timeframe for the implementation of each one. Absolutely critical to their implementation was the appointment of a very strong, independent person to drive the process forward. That someone has not been appointed gives me cause for concern.