As a country, we strive for the best outcomes for
patients, which is the reason and the
only reason the HSE exists. Either it can do its job or it cannot.
With respect
@Groucho, if certain people in the HSE or indeed in the Government, cannot get beyond something as fundamental as the inefficiency of paper systems, then they cannot understand anything of the 21st century - healthcare or otherwise. I say this as a 70-year-old.
If the set-up of electronic medical records is impeded, then so would the set up of necessary security systems.
Healthcare cannot afford to stand still. Emerging innovations, which considerably improve patient outcomes, reduce economic costs and bring services to patients rather than patients to services cannot be ignored or resisted by random individuals or coteries, regardless of who they are. They are not entitled to set what amounts to their own anarchic policies and procedures.
We need better vision from the politicians, the Health Department and the HSE.
It has already been said that this is a small country. Why make it smaller by creating autonomous hospital or regional hospital groups?
Where does primary care dovetail? Primary care is probably at its worst since the foundation of The State.
Payroll, procurement, recruitment and IT, should certainly be centralized.
Every healthcare service should feed into research and knowledge – hospitals don’t know or experience everything.
Reporting systems need to be timely, intelligible and comprehensive in order to set appropriate budgets and facilitate better forecasting.