Minister unveils new fitness-to-practise regime

Universal health insurance will be affordable and give people greater access to the health service, Minister of State at the Department of Health Kathleen Lynch has said.

She was responding on Wednesday to the report commissioned by the Government, and seen by The Irish Times, which found many members of the public fear the plan could cost them money or lead to them losing existing benefits.

“The introduction of universal health insurance by this Government and possibly the next Government is a way off. And it will be a gradual introduction. It would be pointless to introduce a system that people could not afford. What we want to do is to ensure that people have greater access to the health service not less,” Ms Lynch said.

“It’s a gradual introduction. And it will probably be {introduced] profession by profession. And it’s about ensuring we have easier access and not less access so I think people can be assured on that basis,” she said.

Ms Lynch was speaking at the launch of a new fitness-to-practise regime for health and social care professionals.

For the first time, it will be possible for members of the public to get formal complaints examined against a range of registered professions including social workers, speech and language therapists, dieticians, radiographers and others .

A State regulator has been given authority to issue sanctions and investigate the complaints.

Any person can make a complaint to Coru, the regulator for health and social care professionals in Ireland, about an event which occurred since December 31st, 2014.

Coru will examine formal complaints made to it about a registered practictioner and will hold fitness-to-practise hearings if it is satisfied a hearing is needed.

Fitness-to-practise hearings will be similar to those held for other professionals such as doctors, pharmacists and nurses and will examine a person’s ability to do their job and practice their profession.

The hearings will be chaired by a lay person and may be held in public or in private depending on the nature of the complaint.

The potential sanctions range from formal censure to forbidding a registered professional from practising.

A range of other professions are due to become subject to these rules next year, including occupational therapists, physiotherapists, optometrists and dispensing opticians.

Ms Lynch said the new regime represented the final building block in the new regulatory structure brought in under the Health and Social Care Professionals Act 2005.

“It’s long overdue and finally brings the statutory regulation of the health and social care professionals in Ireland up to date,” she said.

“I think this needs to be seen as a two sided piece of protection. Both for the professional and for the person that feels they didn’t get what they expected.

“There is a complaints procedure. And when a complaint is made the new scheme will allow a detailed investigation to be carried out by a committee of inquiry. Where complaints about the conduct and competence are sustained, disciplinary sanction can be imposed,” she said.

Ginny Hanrahan, chief executive of Coru, said anyone who is unfit to practise puts the public at risk.

“We now have the legal authority to ensure that, if an issue in relation to actions of a registrant is brought to Coru we can respond, holding fitness-to-practise hearings if necessary.

“Our health and safety services are underpinned by dedicated professionals who put service users first and who go above and beyond call of duty . But failings do happen. And when they do we need to be able to address them. We cannot allow the actions of a few to destroy the trust in our health and social care services. And in the professions who provide these services,” she said.