A new Bill providing the legislative framework for major elements of the Government's health service reform programme was approved by the Cabinet yesterday and is to be published later this week. Eithne Donnellan, Health Correspondent, reports.
The Health Bill will establish the new Health Service Executive (HSE), which will take over the day to day running of the health service from the country's 11 health boards, which are being abolished in January. It is currently established on an interim basis.
Furthermore, the Bill makes provision for a statutory framework for complaints procedures in the health service.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Ms Harney, conceded yesterday there was only a short time left for the Bill to be passed through both houses of the Oireachtas if the HSE was to be running in January. However, she said the outline of the legislation was clear to the Opposition as the Government's reform agenda had been well documented.
"Notwithstanding the fact that it's a major piece of legislation, I think with goodwill on all sides we can certainly have a very good debate in the Oireachtas," she said.
She also revealed certain planned elements had been taken out of the Bill so as to enable it to be rushed through the Dáil and Seanad. "Some aspects of the legislation to do with information and quality I've taken out of the Bill and I'm going to deal with that by way of a separate Bill in the early part of next year in order to facilitate the early passage of this particular legislation to facilitate the establishment of the HSE."
Ms Harney also said that while the decision of Prof Aidan Halligan not to accept the post of chief executive of the new HSE at the last minute was a set back, it was not "a fatal blow". The HSE would still be running on January 1st with an acting chief executive, she said.
Meanwhile, the Tánaiste reiterated that the National Treatment Purchase Fund may be given enhanced powers. She had told the Dáil last month that its remit may be extended. The fund, set up to buy private treatment for public patients waiting a long time for inpatient treatment, has already treated almost 20,000 patients and there have been calls for it to be extended to cover patients waiting years in some cases for their first consultation in outpatients with hospital consultants.