Sláintecare implementation board will have its first meeting only this week

Stephen Donnelly said the implementation board was being established to "ensure that the drive for universal healthcare is fully embedded in both the Department of Health and the HSE".

The Government has been accused of lacking the political will to implement Sláintecare after it was revealed that the programme board overseeing the reform of the health service will only have its first meeting this week.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said on November 2 that the board was being established to "ensure that the drive for universal healthcare is fully embedded in both the Department of Health and the HSE" after the resignation of three key figures from the programme and would "meet in the near future".

The new board is co-chaired by the secretary general of the Department of Health Robert Watt and the HSE chief executive Paul Reid, and is also to include senior members of the management board and executive management teams.

However, in a parliamentary response to Sinn Féin's health spokesperson David Cullinane, Mr Donnelly revealed that the board would not meet until this week.

"Responsibility for the implementation of Sláintecare projects is now devolved to a senior leadership team within my department", he said.

"To ensure that implementation is fully embedded across the department and that the drive for universal healthcare across both the Department of Health and the HSE, a new programme board has been established."

Mr Cullinane said that the timeline showed a lack of urgency on the Government's part after the departures of Professor Tom Keane, former chairperson of the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council, and Laura Magahy, former executive director of the reform programme. Both resigned in early September and were followed by gastroenterology professor Anthony O'Connor in October.

"We were told when the resignations happened that this leadership team was coming, you would think that there would be an urgency around that. While there is Covid and other issues affecting the health service, this is incredibly serious.

"I would have thought that with the reasons that people quit, in relation to the slow pace of progress in Sláintecare's implementation, that this would have been an important part of the process. You'd have to question the political will and the will of the institutions involved to get this done.

"Mr Donnelly has said he is committed to the regional health delivery aspect of Sláintecare, you'd think there'd be meetings on that here. These are very busy people who have important jobs outside of Slaintecare, so I'm not sure that the minister got the board right. How much time is being devoted to reform in the health system? We don't know, but having not met once, it's very problematic."

A spokesperson for the Department of Health, however, said the Government is committed to the all-party reform of the health service.

"Work is continuing within the Department of Health and the HSE to progress work on Sláintecare, and the Government remains fully committed to the continued delivery of Sláintecare reform.

"Reporting to the minister for health, the programme board will also comprise senior members of the department’s management board and the HSE’s executive management teams."