Policy to pay patient reps will not come in before next year

Dr Gabriel Scally cited the introduction of proper pay and supports for patient representatives as a key issue that must be addressed. Picture: Gareth Chaney/ Collins Photos

A much-delayed policy to pay patient representatives will not be published until next year, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has confirmed.

It is more than three years since the Government first promised those who give up their own time to sit on health steering groups would be remunerated for the work they do.

Dr Gabriel Scally last week hit out at the Government for the way in which patient representatives and advocates, including those on the CervicalCheck steering committee, continue to be treated.

"It is ridiculous that people are having to damage their own businesses or their relationship with their employer or the use their own time and their own resources to enable them to contribute to the collective good because that's what they're there for, to help us build a better health service for the population and they need to be recompensed for the time," Dr Scally said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health said work was being finalised on the development of a patient representative policy, or Patient Voice Partners policy, as they will be called.

"The department recognises and values the vital role that patients play in the development of health policy and the reform of health services. 

"The department places a high importance on identifying and including patient representatives as equal participants on strategic policy working groups and committees across the health service," the spokesperson added.

"A comprehensive stakeholder consultation, including with many existing patient representatives and advocates, was undertaken to ensure a wide variety of views and experiences related to this issue were captured to inform the development of an appropriate Patient Voice Partners policy."

The department spokesperson said this consultation threw up several key themes and a draft policy on the selection and payment of patient representatives had been finalised.

"A public consultation on the draft policy will take place shortly in order give the wider public an opportunity to comment on and contribute to the final document, and to spread awareness of the proposed policy."

Public consultation

Mr Donnelly has now instructed his officials to initiate this public consultation early in the new year, with a view to finalising the policy by mid-2023.

In August 2019, then-health minister Simon Harris said the department was working on measures to introduce payment for patient advocates and said this policy would be published by the following October.

Mr Harris said: "In relation to patient advocates being remunerated yes, absolutely, we will be publishing a policy, probably within the next month, certainly by the end of October in relation to how we intend to support patient representatives, we have now, thankfully, patient reps sitting on so many committees, we see examples of that today as well, it's important that their time is paid for."

Publishing his final implementation review of the recommendations he made in relation to CervicalCheck, Dr Scally cited the introduction of proper pay and supports for patient representatives as a key issue that must be addressed.

"I remember when it dawned on me at one meeting, that the only people who were not being paid to be there were the lay people, the patient advocates the people giving the view, and I know that that system is wrong," he said.