Little clarity over progress on Sláintecare plan

MORE than half of the Government’s much-hyped Sláintecare plan’s specific deadlines are due to fall in 2018 – but officials last night refused to say how many actions had been implemented.

The Government has already been criticised for failing to specify how it will fund its programme. This week the implementation plan for Sláintecare was unveiled. It aims to transform the health service over the next 10 years, containing specific annual targets for the Department of Health. Fifty-eight of the 106 actions are due to be implemented by the end of 2018: 27 have a specific deadline of 2018, while 31 have a deadline of ‘2018 and ongoing’.

The extent to which many have been implemented remains unknown, with the department refusing to confirm if any others had been achieved.

This week the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said the programme would fail unless funding issues were addressed.

‘The INMO has fully supported the full implementation of the Sláintecare report,’ a spokesperson said.

‘However, funding will be a key issue in respect of retention and recruitment of nurses and if that isn’t addressed by the Government and the Public Service Pay Commission the implementation of Sláintecare will fail.’

Health Minister Simon Harris has so far failed to specify how the Government will finance the plan.