Lack of proper health service evaluation

IRELAND is one of the few developed countries that has no proper system for assessing whether our health service is effective or offers value for money, the state’s health service watchdog has admitted.

According to Dr Patricia Harrington, from the Health Information and Quality Authority, Ireland lags behind because up to now it “has had no systematic processes for evaluating the clinical and cost-effectiveness of its health service”.

Dr Harrington was speaking at an international conference in Croke Park organised by the Irish Platform for Patients’ Organisations, Science and Industry, which examined the role of health technology assessments and their impact on Ireland’s healthcare system.