A fundamental reform of the health services has been promised by the Minister for Health and Children.
Mr Martin is to publish proposals for reform by the middle of next year. But in a speech to health managers and unions in Tullamore yesterday the Minister gave few hints as to what the strategy will contain.
It will be drawn up in consultation with health service unions and employers, patients' groups and the public. "It is clear that we must have a fundamental reform of the way we do our business in the health sector," Mr Martin said. The strategy is likely to include undertakings on health in the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF). Among these are:
Extended hours of service to the public;
A survey of patient satisfaction;
Extending the number of clinics run by nurses;
Cuts in waiting times for health services.
The health strategy for the next 10 years must not be developed mainly by experts or "from the top down", he said. "We must move to a realisation that we are now concerned with an inclusive process that draws on views and inputs from all parts of society."
This means "consulting all of the stakeholders - health service providers, management, patients, clients, their families and the community as a whole. They must be fully included in the process of mapping out our health services for the next 10 years."
The health system had undergone remarkable development in recent years with significant progress in many areas but "there are some aspects of the present system with which none of us could claim to be satisfied, such as the waiting times for certain elective surgical procedures and access to services", he said.
When a new health strategy is drawn up, "undoubtedly there will be a strong argument for additional investment in service development and quality improvement. Equally, we should anticipate an agenda for serious reform, change and modernisation in the way we do things."
He suggested that comparisons with the health services of other countries would play a role in developing the new strategy. If other countries were producing better results in certain areas of healthcare, "what can we learn about their systems of care which contribute to those gains?" he asked.
Mr Martin also announced that the Labour Relations Commission is to carry out a review of industrial relations procedures in the health services.
The aim of the review, he said, is to enable the health services to "move away from the pitfalls of the highly adversarial nature of many of our union-management contacts". To achieve this, "we must develop better ways of resolving conflicts", he said.