HSE Performance Committee Meeting Minutes 19 March 2026

A meeting of the HSE Performance Committee was held on Thursday 19 March 2026 at 09:00 in Dr Steevens Hospital, Dublin 8.

Committee Members Present

Brendan Whelan (Chair), Kenneth Mealy, Pat Kirwan, Lily Collison, and Matt Walsh.

Board Members Present

Michael Cawley

Apologies

Tim Hynes.

HSE Executive Attendance

Tony Canavan (REO West and North West), Andy Phillips (REO Southwest), Kate Killeen White (REO Dublin Midlands), Miin Alikhan (AND Planning), Grace Rothwell (Access and Integration), Martin McKeith (AND Children’s Hospital Project Programme), Pat Healy (ND National Services and Schemes), Geraldine Crowley (AND Enhanced Community Care and Primary Care), Colm Henry (CCO), Deirdre McNamara (CCO Office Director Strategic Programmes), Ronan Buckley (CCO Office), Damien McCallion (CTTO), Anne Marie Hoey (CPO), Philippa Ryan Withero (AND Workforce Planning), Derek Chambers (GM Policy Implementation Lead, National Mental Health), Aoife O’Donohue (AND Disabilities Transformation), Dara Purcell (Corporate Secretary), Niamh Drew (Deputy Corporate Secretary), Rebecca Kennedy (Office of the Board).

Minutes reflect the order in which items were considered and are numbered in accordance with the original agenda. All performance/activity data used in this document refers to the latest information available at the time.

The Committee held a private session to review the agenda, the relevant papers and the approach to conducting the meeting.

Executive members joined the meeting

2.1 Declarations of Interest

No conflicts of interest were declared.

2.2 Minutes

The Committee approved the minutes of 19 February 2026.

3.1 CHI Commissioning

The REO Dublin Midlands provided an update on the status of the New Children’s Hospital Ireland (NCHI) Programme and the Committee noted the paper circulated in advance of the meeting. The Committee discussed in particular the projected opening date, the CAMHS unit, and the staffing levels required at open. The REO Dublin Midlands confirmed that governance and culture risks are actively being managed.

REO Dublin Midlands and AND Children’s Hospital Project Programme left the meeting

4.1 National Performance Report (NPR) January 2026 Data / 4.2 UEC Position

The NPR (January 2026 Data) and accompanying briefing paper, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, were noted. The January 2026 NPR presents the HSE’s performance through the four lenses of the Balanced Scorecard (Quality, Access, People, Money), against a subset of the KPIs contained in the National Service Plan (NSP) 2025. The Committee noted the additional commentary relating to Urgent Care; Planned Care, Cancer services and timely access to urgent colonoscopy services, Community services, Quality and Safety, and Human Resources, which were highlighted by the AND Planning.

The ND Access and Integration provided the Committee with a verbal update on the current UEC position, highlighting in particular over 75s attendance, delayed transfers of care and surge capacity.

ND Access and Integration, CPO, and CTTO left the meeting

CCO, Deirdre McNamara, and Ronan Buckley joined the meeting

5.1 Clinical Commentary on the National Performance Report

The Committee noted the papers provided by the CCO in advance of the meeting which provided commentary on the key clinical elements of the NPR relating to Public Health; National Screening Service; Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control; Urgent Colonoscopy; National Cancer Control Programme; and Mental Health.

5.2 Chief Clinical Officer report on Clinical Areas of Focus

The Committee noted the CCO report on Clinical Areas of Focus report provided by the CCO which had been circulated in advance of the meeting. The papers provided the Committee with updates on topical areas of focus under the CCO’s remit, which included Exceptional Management Interventions; Key clinical actions addressing opportunities for improvement; and examples of good/exemplary clinical practice/services.

Regarding Exceptional Management Interventions, the Committee discussed the Pathway for Breast Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment; Urgent Colonoscopy; Maternity Services in PUH; and Children’s Health Ireland (CHI). Committee discussed in particular the review of the Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgical Service in CHI and the National Orthopaedic Hospital Cappagh (NOHC), and requested that the document ‘Review and Risk Assessment of the Clinical Practice of a Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon’ by Selvadurai Nayagam be made available to Board members.

In relation to opportunities for improvement, the Committee discussed the HSE Clinical Governance Framework; Vaccination Update; and ED Conversion Rates.

5.3 Quarterly Quality and Patient Safety report / Monthly Patient Safety Protocol Report (PSP)

The CCO provided the Committee with the Monthly Patient Safety Protocol Report (PSP) and the Quarterly Quality and Patient Safety report, which outlined a high-level overview of patient safety incidents reported via the National Incident Management System (NIMS) for Q4 2025. The Committee noted the analysis of incidents reported via the National Incident Management System in the HSE and also an overview of the National Quality and Patient Safety activity to address common causes of harm, with a specific focus on reducing medication-related harm.

The Committee noted the Monthly Patient Safety Protocol Report (PSP) 18 November 2025 – 12 February 2026 and the Quarterly Quality and Patient Safety report Q4 2025.

5.4 Maternity Dashboard Q3 2025

The Committee noted the Maternity Dashboard Q3 2025 and it was agreed that a call between Committee members and the CCO in relation to maternity services would be arranged in advance of the next Committee meeting.

CCO, Deirdre McNamara and Ronan Buckley left the meeting

6.1 Oral Health Plan

M Cawley, ND National Services, and AND Enhanced Community Care and Primary Care joined the meeting

The ND National Services provided an update to the Committee on the National Oral Health Plan – Phase 1 (2026-2027) as requested by the Committee Chair. The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which provided an overview of the National Oral Health Services, Action Plan for Oral Health policy implementation; and Waiting List Initiative Detail.

The ND National Services highlighted that service delivery was significantly impacted by the pandemic and sustained recruitment challenges, with significant waiting lists now impacting the School programme & Special Access programmes as well as orthodontic services. The Committee agreed to add quarterly updates on the Oral Health Plan to the Committee workplan.

M Cawley, ND National Services, and AND Enhanced Community Care and Primary Care left the meeting

7.1 Workforce

CPO and AND Workforce Planning joined the meeting

The CPO provided an update to the Committee on Agency spend reduction plans, agency spend position and associated monitoring and reporting arrangements. The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which outlined Regional Agency Plans; Monitoring and Reporting on Agency Spend Reduction Plans; and the Agency Spend Limit KPI – Reporting Period January 2026.

The CPO provided an update to the Committee on the Public Only Consultant Contract. The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which included updates on the Uptake of POCC ’23; Work Practice Plans (WPP) recording on DIME / Consultant Work Practice Plan Portal; and breakdowns of POCC update by Region. The Committee discussed accountability for the POCC and the REO West North West agreed to revert on how successful implementation of the POCC will look in the regions

It was agreed that quarterly meetings between Committee member M Walsh and the CPO would be arranged.

CPO and AND Workforce Planning left the meeting

7.2 Mental Health

ND Access and Integration, REO South West and Derek Chambers joined the meeting

The ND Access and Integration updated the Committee on Mental Health Services. The Committee noted the paper circulated in advance of the meeting which outlined: Mental Health KPIs and 2025 performance; NSP 2026 priorities and programme updates; key issues impacting performance; and North Kerry CAMHS.

In particular, the Committee discussed North Kerry CAMHS and clinical governance in psychiatry. It was agreed that the next mental health update to the Committee would focus on this area and that the appropriate managers would be invited to attend.

REO South West and Derek Chambers left the meeting

7.3 Disability Services

AND Disabilities Transformation joined the meeting

The AND Disabilities Transformation updated the Committee on Disability Services. The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which included a draft of the new reporting template for Disability Services. This covered performance reporting on Adult and Children’s services, including: Disabilities Finance January 2026; Workforce; Service Operations; Residential Services; Respite Services; Home Support; Capital and Estates; and Service Arrangements.

In particular, the Committee discussed the expansion and increased delivery of respite services and home based supports and provided further feedback on the disability services reporting structure.

ND Access and integration and AND Disabilities Transformation left the meeting

The AND Planning provided an update on the Annual Report 2025. The Committee noted the paper and draft 1 of the Annual Report which was circulated in advance of the meeting. It was agreed that Committee members would submit any feedback on the draft Annual Report directly to AND Planning by 24 March to allow incorporation into the next draft.

No matters arose under this item.

The meeting ended at 14:45.

Terms of Reference: Performance Committee