Department of Health spells out its separate role

I REFER to your editorial of January 6 in connection with staffing levels in the Department of Health & Children.

As the department made clear when this issue was first raised in the media, both the Department and the HSE have separate and distinct functions.

The department has overall responsibility for health policy while the HSE delivers the services.

The department supports the HSE to ensure that objectives are delivered in accordance with Government policy.

The relationship between the Department of Health & Children and the HSE is similar to that in a number of other Government departments including, for example, the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and An Garda Síochana.

In particular, you draw attention to the number of officials working in human resources.

Your editorial suggests that the staff involved have responsibility for internal HR issues. However, this is incorrect. The staffing complement of the department’s national HR and workforce planning division includes nursing, midwifery and therapist advisers seconded to the department from the wider health sector to advise both the minister and the department on professional matters, consists of four units and has responsibility for a number of significant policy areas, including:

* Statutory framework for the regulation of various healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists and social workers — including, for example, the implementation of the Medical Practitioners Act 2007 and the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005.

* Public service pay and pension policy as it applies to the entire public health service.

* National level HR/industrial relations issues relating to the health sector such as the medical consultants’ contract negotiations, the European working time directive as it applies to junior doctors, the reduction in the working hours of nurses, national partnership and Towards 2016.

* Workforce planning for the health services generally.

* Co-ordination of health reform programme, including restructuring of HSE.

* Health agency rationalisation programme under which a number of health agencies have been identified for integration/amalgamation.

The Department of Health and Children and the HSE have a close and effective working relationship — but there is no duplication of responsibilities or activities between the two organisations.

Róisín Heuston

Press and Communications Unit

Department of Health and Children

Hawkins Street

Dublin 2