Enhanced HSE governance and accountability marks a key Sláintecare deliverable.
Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has met with the new HSE Board members today (Friday) prior to the inaugural meeting of the Board.
This week, the Minister signed a commencement order for the Health Service Executive (Governance) Act 2019 which formally establishes the HSE Board with effect from 28th June 2019.
To mark this, the HSE Board held its first statutory meeting in Dr Steevens’ Hospital and the Minister met with the Board this morning.
The Minister said:
I am very pleased to be here today at this important and significant event. The establishment of a Board will assist us in improving oversight and governance in our health service.
I have no doubt this will be a challenging role but it is also a very important one. I want to thank the chair and the ten members for putting themselves forward and I look forward to working with them to improving and reforming the health service for our patients.
The Board currently consists of the Chair, Mr Ciarán Devane and ten other members with an additional member to be appointed in the near future. Given the size and complexity of the health service, the appointees reflect the range of competencies including corporate governance, strategic planning and financial management necessary to enable the Board to govern and lead the HSE.
The recent appointment of Mr Paul Reid as CEO of the Health Service Executive is another key driver of change and improvement for the health service.
Given the challenging but exciting tasks ahead of us in implementing Sláintecare, it is significant that the Board includes representatives of patient advocates and health professionals.
This will ensure the patient’s voice and the voice of health professionals are embedded in the reform of our health service. This Board will be a key component in strengthening HSE governance and will contribute to enhancing the oversight and performance of the HSE.
the Minister continued.
The Board was appointed on an administrative basis earlier this year and has been meeting in advance of today’s formal meeting to prepare for the commencement of the legislation.
The Board members are:
• Ciarán Devane, Chairperson, Chief Executive of the British Council • Prof Deirdre Madden, Deputy Chairperson, Professor of law at UCC and chair of the Commission on Patient Safety and Quality Assurance.
• Fergus Finlay, former CEO of Barnardos
• Tim Hynes, Group Chief Information Officer, AIB
• Brendan Lenihan, Managing Director, Navigo Consulting and Chartered Accountant
• Dr Sarah McLoughlin, Science and Communication Officer at Retina International & patient advocate
• Mark Molloy, Quantity Surveyor, member of the Expert Group on Tort Reform and Management of Clinical Negligence Claims & patient advocate
• Aogán Ó Fearghail, former GAA President
• Professor Fergus O’Kelly, Clinical Professor General Practice / Family Medicine, Trinity College Dublin
• Fiona Ross, chair of CIE and Mental Health Ireland
• Dr Yvonne Traynor, vice president of Regulatory & Scientific Affairs with Kerry Group