Hospice opening a priority in HSE’s 2020 service plan
THE opening of the Wicklow Hospice and a number of primary care centres are among the HSE’s priorities for the Garden County in 2020.
The Health Service Executive has published its National Service Delivery Plan 2020. The plan outlines the level and type of health and social services that the HSE plans to deliver in 2020. It has been allocated a budget of just over €17 billion for 2020.
Improving access and quality of palliative care services nationwide is listed as one of the priorities. This includes the opening of the Wicklow Hospice facility, which is due to become operational in early 2020.
Around €10 million is to be invested in primary and community services nationwide in the next year. The South Wicklow Community Healthcare Learning Network is also set to be further developed, alongside the other eight community healthcare learning networks.
The plan also includes capital infrastructure projects which are completed and due to become operational in 2020, or scheduled to become operational in 2020 and 2021.
In Wicklow, the Rathdrum Primary Care Centre is listed as due for completion in late 2020, becoming operational in 2021. The Bray Primary Care Centre is due to be operational in the first six months of 2020. The plan also notes that Baltinglass Primary Care Centre could open next year.
Speaking at the launch of the plan, Paul Reid, Chief Executive of the HSE, said: ‘People are living longer and healthier lives. We receive strong satisfaction ratings in our National Patient Experience surveys.However, there is no doubt that overall we aren’t currently delivering the kind of health service that the public expects and which we aspire to. The commitment to the reform of our healthcare system has not proven easy to deliver. Certainly, it will not be achieved within a single service planning cycle. But it can and must be done, over the coming years. I am happy that this Service Plan represents an important first step on that journey.’