| dc.description | Health reform has been at the centre of political and societal discourse in Ireland for many years.
Efforts have been made by successive governments to improve and enhance our health services,
and advances have been made, with clear examples of success emerging over the years. Overall,
however, the reality has fallen short of expectations. There remain fundamental and deep-rooted
problems across the health service, and there is an understandable level of scepticism among the
public and frontline workers in relation to our collective capacity to effectively tackle these issues.
Sláintecare provides us with an unprecedented opportunity for the realisation of real and sustained
improvement in the provision of healthcare to all citizens.
In 2016, there was an overwhelming consensus across all political parties
that these issues needed to be addressed comprehensively and on a cross-
party basis. The Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare was
set up by unanimous decision, and was tasked with developing cross-party
political agreement on a long-term vision and policy direction for the health
and social care system over the next decade. This move recognised the need
for a coherent, long-term strategy that would continue to be implemented
irrespective of the make-up of Government.
The Committee published its report, Sláintecare, in May 2017. The
Committee’s report sets out a vision for the development of the Irish health
service over the next decade that has attracted broad support from across the
Oireachtas and across stakeholders more generally.
This document represents the fi rst output of the detailed planning process for the implementation
of the Sláintecare report. Sláintecare presents a ten-year vision, covering a wide canvas of complex
issues across the health sector. Implementing that vision will require concrete and well-defined steps
to be taken, steps which are prioritised, sequenced, coordinated and funded over time. At the same
time, implementation planning should be seen as a continuous process, which sits alongside effective
project management, so that reform in practice can adjust to new trends and real experience. | en |
