Political will needed to get job done

Health service reform must be prioritised

To lose three senior figures, who were attempting to drive reforms of the health service, is beyond carelessness.

The resignation of three major figures associated with reform of the health service brings to mind the words of Oscar Wilde in The Importance of Being Earnest: “To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”

Indeed, to lose three senior figures, who were attempting to drive reforms of the health service, is beyond carelessness.

The chairwoman of the South/SouthWest Hospital Group board, Professor Geraldine McCarthy, resigned this week, just days after the Sláintecare implementation advisory council chair Tom Keane and Sláintecare executive director Laura Magahy also quit their posts. In her letter to Stephen Donnelly, the health minister, Prof McCarthy said that, despite the excellent work by frontline staff, much-needed reform of the health service had not been delivered.

“I have waited for a long time for developments led by successive ministers for health, and government. However, recent information and my own experiences tell me we are no nearer to the required reform than we were six years ago.”

If that is indeed the case, it is a shocking indictment of our political leadership.

Urging the Taoiseach to intervene, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation general secretary Phil Ní Sheaghdha said the departures from the Sláintecare reform programme have left health workers feeling like the “bad old days” are returning. She has a point.

Reform of the health service has defied numerous health ministers, including Micheál Martin. Former taoiseach Brian Cowen described the portfolio as Angola, referencing the former Portuguese colony that suffered a civil war lasting from 1975 to 2002. Angola has been at peace for 19 years, yet we are still no nearer to reform of the health service.

The efforts of Mr Donnelly may be under the spotlight, but he cannot be held solely accountable. His predecessors haven’t wanted for hard work, passion, or influence within governments, but have been found wanting. Mr Donnelly, as the incumbent, must now assume responsibility for the debacle.

In May, Mr Donnelly unveiled ambitious Sláintecare health reform targets. There are also plans to introduce the Sláintecare consultant contract, which will permit public-only work in public hospitals, and to open 31 primary healthcare centres around the country by 2023. He is not the first minister to unveil plans and set targets, but what is urgently needed is the determination to get the job done.

According to the minister: “Considerable progress has already been made in moving Sláintecare from vision to reality.”

Judging from the resignations of three key people involved, that is an overly optimistic view.

The irony is that, when the health service was challenged in the early days of the Covid pandemic, staff — from managers to janitors — demonstrated a willingness and eagerness to innovate and adapt for the benefit of patients.

It is time for our political leaders to do likewise.