Martin Daly: Urgent push for digitalisation and rural primary care
Martin Daly addresses the minister on capital investment in health, welcoming a new endometriosis framework while pressing for urgent digitalisation and direct State investment in primary care. He warns that Ireland lags the EU on digitalisation and cites failed PPPs in rural areas like Balhadrine as evidence the State must step in.
Martin Daly opens by commending the new endometriosis framework and associated service as a significant improvement that will benefit many women. He thanks the minister for leadership on that policy while pivoting to outstanding capital concerns.
Daly argues that current health IT infrastructure is archaic and that continued funding into the same systems will not deliver productivity gains. He states Ireland is last in the European Union on the 2030 digitalisation compass and says this failure will block broader progress in health unless addressed.
Using Balhadrine in County Roscommon and parts of East Galway as examples, Daly highlights communities asked to rely on public-private partnerships to produce primary care centres after long delays. He contends that the mantra of 'primary care' has not been matched by direct capital investment into community centres.
Daly urges the HSE, Department and State to directly build and staff primary care centres in deprived rural and urban areas to improve recruitment and retention of GPs, public health nurses and allied professionals. He warns that without this, deprived communities will continue to rely on public patients while infrastructure fails to follow.
Praise for endometriosis service
Martin Daly opens by commending the new endometriosis framework and associated service as a significant improvement that will benefit many women. He thanks the minister for leadership on that policy while pivoting to outstanding capital concerns.
Digitalisation crisis
Daly argues that current health IT infrastructure is archaic and that continued funding into the same systems will not deliver productivity gains. He states Ireland is last in the European Union on the 2030 digitalisation compass and says this failure will block broader progress in health unless addressed.
Primary care funding mismatch
Using Balhadrine in County Roscommon and parts of East Galway as examples, Daly highlights communities asked to rely on public-private partnerships to produce primary care centres after long delays. He contends that the mantra of 'primary care' has not been matched by direct capital investment into community centres.
Policy recommendation and consequences
Daly urges the HSE, Department and State to directly build and staff primary care centres in deprived rural and urban areas to improve recruitment and retention of GPs, public health nurses and allied professionals. He warns that without this, deprived communities will continue to rely on public patients while infrastructure fails to follow.
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Transcript
Deputy Daily. Just on relation to capital, firstly I want to commend you on the endometriosis framework and the new service. It is a huge improvement and a recognition of a need that was there and I think many women who will avail of that service, very grateful for your leadership in relation to that. Just two things around capital, I'll make them around, one is digitalisation, I'm going to keep hammering this, hammering this, hammering this and I have spoken to you as well, that investment, we have an archaic system, if we keep throwing money at this system, we will not get the commensurate productivity because it is simply not fit for purpose and we are so far off the charts, this is not a criticism of you but it is a reality of where we are. We are last place in the European Union in relation to digitalisation, the 2030 compass digitalisation project. I'll keep hammering that because I believe we won't make progress, we get that. The second thing is, if we were in a situation where the emphasis is on primary care, this mantra for the last 25 or 30 years, primary care, primary care, yet the money is not going to primary care and we are seeing places like Balhadrine in County Roscommon where poor communities in a rural area, in a national school that has 22 different languages being asked essentially to find a public private partnership to produce a primary care centre after 15 years which has failed. It's patently obvious that the HSE, the State, the Department, I don't care who, should be directly building primary care centres in rural deprived areas, in urban deprived areas and populating them with health professionals, otherwise we are going to make no progress in relation to the recruitment and retention of general practitioners, public health nurses, primary care, allied health professionals and nursing professionals. Again, I will continue to make that, it would be like asking consultants on a public only contract to go out and build a public hospital and fund the infrastructure and then see the first patient. It's not exactly the same thing but it's pretty close. When you are down in places like Balhadrine or East Galway or Roscommon and in deprived urban areas, I just want to make this last point, the vast majority of income comes from public patients in those places.