A meeting of the HSE Performance and Delivery Committee was held on Friday 19 March 2021 at 8am via video conference
From: HSE Board
Published: March 2021
Updated: November 2024
Tim Hynes (Chair), Fergus Finlay, Sarah McLoughlin, Brendan Lenihan, Louis Flynn, Sarah Barry.
Regina Moran.
Dean Sullivan (CSO, Item 2), Geraldine O’Brien (Item 2), Anne O’Connor (COO, Item 3), Liam Woods (ND Acute Operations, Item 3), Yvonne O’Neill (ND Community Operations, Item 3), Orla Treacy (Item 3), Stephen Mulvany (CFO, Item 4), Valerie Plant (Item 4), Dara Purcell (Secretary), Rebecca Kennedy.
The Chairperson, Tim Hynes welcomed members to the meeting.
No conflicts of interest were declared.
At the start of the meeting the Committee met in the absence of management.
The Committee approved the minutes of the meeting of 19 February 2021 and the Annual Report of the Performance and Delivery Committee 2020.
EMT members joined the meeting at 8:30am.
The CSO and G O’Brien joined the meeting
The CSO provided an update to the Committee on the approach to the preparation of the Annual Report 2020 (AR 2020) which was agreed through EMT and the Performance and Delivery Committee at their February meetings and confirmed the draft AR 2020 has been prepared in the context of COVID-19 with the HSE’s response to the pandemic being a key focus throughout the document.
He advised that the draft AR 2020 outlines the context for 2020, the public health measures established to manage the pandemic, the new services and new ways of delivering existing services that were put in place to maintain, as far as possible, service continuity, as well as reporting at a high-level on progress against key priorities included in NSP 2020, noting that service delivery was significantly impacted during the year.
The CSO advised that content for the AR 2020 has been developed and shared across the organisation and initial feedback has been received from the majority of areas and included in the draft which provided Committee members with a clear sense of how the final document will look. The CSO also provided a brief verbal update on the status of the DoH/HSE Oversight Agreement and the Corporate Plan 2021-24.
The Committee provided feedback on the working draft of the AR 2020 which was circulated prior to the meeting. It was suggested that the next draft should: feature the public health section more prominently; provide linkage to external appendices such as the Corporate Plan 2021-24; include stories from service users and staff; clearly address the stoppages in cancer services; reference work done in relation to the HSE’s relationship with third party agencies; and ensure a clear narrative throughout.
It was agreed that at least one further meeting of the Committee would be scheduled in April to allow members appropriate time to provide feedback and input to the AR 2020.
The CSO and G O’Brien left the meeting
COO, ND Acute Operations, ND Community Operations, and O Treacy joined the meeting
The COO provided a high-level overview of the monthly January 2021 reporting highlighting that performance was challenged due to the third wave of COVID-19 and resulting interruption to planned levels of service.
The COO and Committee discussed reporting from a number of areas including serious incident reporting, access and integration, urgent colonoscopy, mental health, and Rapid Access Clinics in cancer services.
The Committee queried whether increased demand for Mental Health Services is being seen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The COO advised that although Mental Health Services have maintained their levels of activity throughout the pandemic, it is likely that demand has increased as a result of it.
In relation to cancer services, there was acknowledgement of the good work in progress to improve performance in RACs and the increased delivery of services during wave 3 of the pandemic relative to pandemic impact earlier in 2020 was noted. The Committee discussed the impact of the pandemic on cancer services including delays in accessing services and unmet need and asked if the related future demand on the system is being projected. The COO advised that it is difficult to predict unmet needs and a year-on-year comparison will be required before this is accurately known. It was agreed that the CCO should be invited to a later meeting to discuss this matter.
Following discussion in relation to planned levels of activity, performance and reform as per NSP2021, the Committee requested that at its next meeting, the COO report on the focus areas of escalation at NPOG and whether it can be determined if the areas where performance is challenged pre-dates COVID-19 and was exacerbated as a result of COVID-19, or have been caused by COVID-19 or impacted by other measures. It was agreed that the Chair would follow up directly with the COO and agree next steps in relation to focus areas for the Committee to consider.
The NSP 2021 Q1 Activity Review was discussed in detail. It was agreed that the views expressed by members at the meeting would be taken account of as part of the review process. The NSP 2021 Q1 Review Phase 1 paper will be submitted for consideration at the April meeting of the Committee. In addition, papers would be provided to the April and May Board meetings.
The COO updated the Committee on the Operational Services Report Dashboard Project, advising that Phase 1 of the dashboard was completed successfully before Christmas and it has progressed into Phase 2. She confirmed that the Dashboard Project Team is using an agile, phased approach to development of the OSR and updates on the dashboard project will continue to be provided. The Committee acknowledged the importance of this project and confirmed its support.
In relation to the Review of Public/Private Status of Residential Care Facilities linked to COVID-19 Deaths, the Committee requested that an update be provided on the implementation of the recommendations from the report of the COVID-19 Nursing Homes Expert Panel; and for data to be provided on the basis of number of beds/residents instead of facilities which would allow comparison between private and public facilities’ death ratio per patient.
COO, ND Acute Operations, ND Community Operations, and O Treacy left the meeting.
CFO and V Plant joined the meeting.
The CFO provided the quarterly IFMS update to the Committee with reference to the briefing paper circulated prior to the meeting. He updated the Committee on: the impact of COVID-19 on key stakeholder engagements and the suspension of the SI Contract; the status of the IFMS SAP Implementation Project; the work of the Governance Oversight Group and delivery of DXC’s ‘Get to Green Plan’; and the Key Next Steps for the project.
The Committee discussed the financial impact of pausing the project and sought assurance that should a material change to cost/benefit analysis be necessary, it will be made in line with good governance and be highlighted to the Committee.
The CFO confirmed that any update to the business case of the project would be brought to the Committee. In relation to a query on the role of voluntary organisations in the IFMS project, the CFO confirmed that engagement is ongoing and these organisations are represented on the Finance Reform Programme Steering Committee.
The Committee thanked CFO and V Plant for the work completed to date and confirmed their ongoing support for the project.
CFO and V Plant left the meeting.
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