Hopeful response to HSE overhaul

PATIENTS groups reacted with caution to yesterday’s planned overhaul of the HSE, with many hoping it heralds a move towards a better healthcare system.

The existing board of the HSE tendered their resignations on request to Health Minister Dr James Reilly, in a shake-up which will see a new corporate structure in place by the end of the year.

The outgoing HSE board chairman, Frank Dolphin, will remain on as head of an interim board, ahead of plans to legally abolish the board structure by the end of the year and make the health service more accountable to the minister and his department.