From Department of Health
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The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, today published the fourth and fifth papers in the ‘Healthcare Capital Investment in Ireland’ series as part of the 2022 Spending Review process to improve the evidence base for policy decision making.
The aim of this work is to inform capital investment prioritisation through the new Strategic Healthcare Investment Framework in Ireland. This Framework, due to be published next month, will better align investment with the needs of the health system, the Climate Action Plan, the National Planning Framework, and National Development Plan.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly welcomed the publication saying:
“Robust healthcare infrastructure facilitates best-in-class service delivery and remains a key priority for me and this government. We have a planned investment portfolio of €5.7 billion under the National Development Plan to 2025. Capital investment is a key enabler of reform, ensuring the right care is delivered in the right place at the right time. I am committed to achieving the maximum benefit to the health system from this expenditure while also delivering on our commitments under the Climate Action Plan and the National Planning Framework. For the first time these papers present a detailed understanding of healthcare infrastructure and capacity across the country. This will inform all future healthcare investment decisions under the new Strategic Investment Framework and is vital for the implementation of effective Regional Health Areas.”
These papers build on the initial papers in the Healthcare Capital Investment in Ireland series, and the subsequent Strategic Investment Framework will seek to ensure a strategic, effective and efficient approach is applied to public investment in Health going forward.
The full research papers are attached:
1. An Analysis of Healthcare Infrastructure Capacity
2. An Analysis of Built Healthcare Infrastructure
The 6 Regional Health Area (RHAs) will cover the following areas:
Area A - North Dublin, Meath, Louth, Cavan, and Monaghan.
Area B - Longford, Westmeath, Offaly, Laois, Kildare, and parts of Dublin and Wicklow.
Area C - Tipperary South, Waterford, Kilkenny, Carlow, Wexford, Wicklow, part of South Dublin.
Area D - Kerry and Cork.
Area E - Limerick, Tipperary and Clare.
Area F - Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, and Galway.
This paper provides an analysis of healthcare infrastructure as it relates to service capacity and provides insights into access to care such as beds and radiological equipment by region.
The authors find that healthcare infrastructure capacity varies by Regional Health Area (RHA), thereby motivating considerations around the spread of planned investment in the coming years to ensure even access to care and its use.
The analysis provided in this paper provides the groundwork for evidence-based prioritisation of infrastructure projects facilitated by the upcoming Strategic Healthcare Investment Framework (SHIF). This will inform future healthcare infrastructure investment decisions across a range of care settings.
The paper finds variation in the distribution of infrastructure capacity in many service areas and the factors that account for this, including:
These findings will serve as an important input for further investment considerations, however further analysis will be required to determine the appropriate level of healthcare infrastructure by Regional Health Area (RHA) by taking account of factors including future demand, different population structures, and the presence of national centres of excellence and clinical care networks. This will be facilitated by the publication of the forthcoming Strategic Healthcare Investment Framework (SHIF).
This paper provides an analysis of the physical infrastructure within the HSE Acute and Community care settings.
The analysis presents an overview of the condition, quality, energy efficiency, maintenance requirements and functional suitability of the HSE Estate for both the Community and Acute Care settings.
The analysis presented can be used to inform future healthcare infrastructure investment on the basis of all the areas considered. While specific analysis will be needed in a given region and service area to identify and prioritise planned investment, the paper outlines an evidence base for reference that can be used in addition to findings from the previous paper “An Analysis of Healthcare Infrastructure Capacity”.
This paper has a number of findings in relation to the appropriateness of public healthcare infrastructure in Ireland, including:
