Minister for Health opens the inaugural meeting of the National Screening Advisory Committee

Minister for Health Simon Harris TD has opened the inaugural meeting of the National Screening Advisory Committee (NSAC) today.

Minister Harris said:

"I had the pleasure of attending the first meeting of the National Screening Advisory Committee this morning. The Committee members bring such a wide variety of expertise and experience from various backgrounds. We have experts from areas such as the medical profession, the legal profession, health economics, journalism, politics and many more including two members representing the public voice.

"I want to thank each of them for their leadership in accepting this role. The challenges are well known but I strongly believe this committee will play a vital role in educating people about screening and crucially helping to increase uptake in the country.

“Screening saves lives and we need to protect it. As Minister, I am fully committed to supporting essential screening services and maintaining trust in our screening programmes. I look forward to working with the committee in this regard."

The Chair of the Committee, Professor Niall O’Higgins, said:

“Following the recommendation of Dr Scally's report, the Minister has moved rapidly to appoint the National Screening Advisory Committee to advise him on new proposals and on existing screening programmes.

“The members of the Committee are determined to be effective in their role. Drawing on the scope and depth of expertise available, it is hoped to reinvigorate the programmes that are in place, to propose new programmes and to restore public confidence in health screening, a strategy that has been proven to improve survival and reduce ill-health in many potentially serious diseases.”

Chair of the National Screening Advisory Committee

Professor Niall O’Higgins, Professor Emeritus of Surgery, University College Dublin

National Screening Advisory Committee Members

Dr Abigail Collins, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, National Cancer Control Programme
Dr John Ward, Consultant Radiologist, University Hospital Galway
Dr Mary Codd, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCD
Dr Sheelagh McGuinness, Reader in Law, University of Bristol Law School
Dr Velma Harkins, General Practitioner, Offaly
Professor Andrew Green, Consultant in Clinical Genetics and Professor of Medical Genetics, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital
Dr James O’Mahony, Assistant Research Professor, Centre for Health Policy and Management, School of Medicine, Trinity College
Martina Fitzgerald, Journalist
Irene Regan, Chief Medical Scientist, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital
John Gleeson, Solicitor and former partner in Mason Hayes and Curran Solicitors
Dr Susan Kent, Assistant National Director, HSE and former Deputy Chief Nursing Officer, Department of Health
Dr Keelin O’Donoghue, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Cork University Maternity Hospital
Dr Ellen Crushell, Consultant Paediatrician with a special interest in Inherited Metabolic Disorders, Temple Street, Children’s University Hospital and Our Lady’s Children Hospital
Dr Paul D’Alton, Associate Professor Principal Clinical Psychologist, St Vincent’s University Hospital
Dr Paul Kavanagh, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, HSE.
Anne Burke (Public Voice)
Jillian van Turnhout (Public Voice)
Professor Michael Rigby, Professor Emeritus of Health Information Strategy, Keele University
Professor Ciaran O’Neill, Professor of Health Economics, Queens University Belfast

ENDS

Notes to the Editor:

a recommendation contained within the ‘Scally Report into the CervicalCheck Screening Programme (September 2018)’ was that a National Screening Committee should be constituted to advise the Department of Health and the Minister on all new proposals for screening and revisions to current programmes
the Committee will provide independent expert advice when it comes to considering population-based screening programmes in Ireland. In accordance with best practice and in order to ensure appropriate use of finite resources, the National Screening Advisory Committee will:

-effectively implement an agreed methodology for accepting applications to consider new or revisions to existing population screening programmes

-agree and implement a prioritisation process for the consideration of new or revised population screening programmes

-develop and implement a robust and transparent system to evaluate potential population-based screening programmes against a set of internationally recognised criteria

-clearly communicate the recommendations and the reasoning to the Department of Health, stakeholders and the public on the outcomes of deliberations

the Committee will play a significant strategic role in the development of population screening programmes in Ireland. However, it will have no executive function, that is day to day operational role. Day to day operations will remain the responsibility of the HSE

Minister for Health opens the inaugural meeting of the National Screening Advisory Committee

Chair of the National Screening Advisory Committee

National Screening Advisory Committee Members

Notes to the Editor:

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