Sláintecare’s health reforms ‘bulldozed’
Chair says project ‘doomed to fail’ as he makes exit
THE latest senior figure to resign from Sláintecare told the Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly the project is ‘doomed to fail’.
Professor Anthony O’Connor, consultant gastroenterologist at Tallaght University Hospital, resigned as a member of the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council (SIAC) on Thursday.
His departure from the SIAC is the third in four weeks and the fourth high-profile recent resignation from the HSE.
In his resignation letter to Mr Donnelly, Prof. O’Connor said that the reforms promised in Sláintecare ‘will not happen’.
His resignation came just hours after a meeting with Department of Health officials and days after a meeting between the SIAC, HSE boss Paul Reid and Department of Health secretary general of the Robert Watt.
Earlier last month, Sláintecare executive director Laura Magahy and SIAC chairperson Prof. Tom Keane resigned.
Prof. O’Connor had assumed the role of acting chair of the SIAC following Prof. Keane’s departure.
The chairperson of the South/ Southwest Hospital Group board, Prof. Geraldine McCarthy, also tendered her resignation last month. Last weekend, this newspaper revealed Mr Donnelly was kept in the dark about the resignation of Ms Magahy by Department of Health secretary general Mr Watt for more than a week.
In his letter, Prof. O’Connor said that he came to the reluctant conclusion that Prof. Keane’s decision to leave was correct given that ‘fundamental failures of governance, accountability and commitment continue to make any chance of success impossible’.
He continued: ‘It is now clear to me that the culture of collaboration, respect, community and engagement that had been envisaged by the Sláintecare report has been bulldozed.
‘What has been chosen by Government to replace it is entirely incongruous with the principles of the project.’
He bleakly concluded that following ‘our meeting with your secretary general, Sláintecare ‘is doomed to fail.’
Prof. O’Connor wrote that he was left with little option but to resign from his position.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has vowed to address issues raised by the senior figures who resigned from the Sláintecare programme last month.
Speaking to reporters at the Rosslare Europort yesterday, Mr Martin said that the Government was ‘very determined’ to deliver the key principles of Slaintecare. The Taoiseach met with Ms Magahy and Prof. Keane last week about their respective resignations.
Mr Martin said that Ms Magahy and Prof. Keane insisted there were structural issues preventing further progress on the project.
‘Their issue seems to be more on the structural side – in terms of the accountability and the visibility – and that the structure that had been created on the unit within the Department of Health was not optimal, in terms of dealing with both the Department of Health and particularly the HSE, and they wanted more visibility over the delivery,’ he said.
The Taoiseach said that the pair acknowledged the progress that had been made so far in Sláintecare, but he maintained that the issues they had raised as reasons for resigning would be addressed.
‘Their key view is in terms of the structural issues which we will now address,’ he said
Key reforms in Sláintecare include the implementation of regionalisation – a plan to develop six regional health hubs – as well as public-only consultant contracts and the building of three elective-only hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin.
Sinn Féin TD and deputy leader Pearse Doherty said there was a lack of ‘political will and commitment’ from the Government when it came to the implementation of Sláintecare.
‘We’ve heard the Government try to spin their way out of this, but one after another, we’re seeing resignations in relation to Sláintecare,’ he said.
Mr Doherty added: The issue here is there is a real lack of commitment from these parties and Government – from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in particular – in relation to delivering universal healthcare.’
‘Structural issues stopping progress’