Speaking after a meeting of the Committee of the Health and Children with the senior officers of the HSE and the Minister for Health, chairman of the committee Jerry Buttimer, TD said:
“Since the reorganisation of the health service from the old health board model to the centralised provision under the HSE we have seen at times a disconnect between the Department and the HSE but also more importantly between the HSE and local service users. In large part this disconnect has been the result of an abject failure on the part of the HSE to communicate effectively with its own staff, with the political system and with people in communities. The very public culmination of this was the request by the Minister for Health requesting the Board of the HSE to resign.
“Under my Chairmanship of this Committee one of my central aims is to hold both the Department of Health and the HSE to account. At the meeting the Committee provided an opportunity to the HSE to set out its plans to members of the Oireachtas but more importantly it was an opportunity for members to hold a mirror to the HSE, to show how HSE implementation of policy is experienced by members of the public.
“As a committee we used the opportunity to seek clarification of our concerns, some of which have been outlined in our questions to the HSE. Particular concerns related to local facilities and the reconfiguration of health services. The value placed on local services was evidenced by the questions posed by many members of the committee; they were mainly seeking clarification on the development of local facilities.
“The Committee on Health and Children provided a forum for the HSE to clearly communicate its plans for the health system. When there is either a lack of information or if the available information is unclear, this causes great concern for people, they fear that their local services will be detrimentally affected. During the process of reform and reconfiguration of the health service we must ensure the continuation of dialogue and accurate communication so to minimise the fears of people and to address their genuine concerns.”