HSE Performance Committee Meeting Minutes 9 October 2025

Committee Members Present

Brendan Whelan (Chair), Tim Hynes, Kenneth Mealy and Pat Kirwan.

Apologies

Lily Collison, Matt Walsh.

HSE Executive Attendance

Tony Canavan (REO West and North West), Kate Killeen White (REO Dublin Midlands), Patrick Lynch (ND Planning and Performance), Damien McCallion (CTTO), Anne Marie Hoey (CPO), Philippa Ryan Withero (AND HR), Amanda Casey (Chief Social Worker), Pamela Fagan (NIRP Chair), Aoife O’Donohue (AND Disabilities Transformation), John Smith (AND Access and Integration), Maria Kavanagh (GM Disabilities Coordination and Transformation), Sarah Treleaven (AND Performance), Pat Healy (ND National Services and Schemes), Patricia Whelehan (AND Older Persons Services), 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 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 September 2025.

2.3 Action Log

The Committee noted the action log which was circulated in advance of the meeting.

2.4 Workplan 2026 meeting dates

The Committee discussed proposed meeting dates and topics to be covered on the workplan and it was agreed a schedule would be approved at the next meeting.

Chief Social Worker and NIRP Chair joined the meeting

3.1 NIRP Annual Report

The Chief Social Worker and NIRP Chair presented to the Committee the NIRP Annual Report 2024 which was circulated in advance of the meeting.

The NIRP was established to enable the HSE to undertake reviews when things go seriously wrong involving people within the community health and social care sector within HSE or HSE funded services. 2024-2025 has seen extensive change within the NIRP structure arising from changes in the wider HSE governance structure and in the national approach to safeguarding. The Committee discussed in particular the skillset required for the NIRP members and noted that recruitment is currently underway for new members.

The Committee noted the NIRP Annual Report 2024 and associated briefing paper and agreed that the NIRP Annual Report 2024 should be published.

Chief Social Worker and NIRP Chair left the meeting

REO Dublin Midlands joined the meeting

4.1 CHI Commissioning

The ND Planning and Performance and REO Dublin Midlands provided a verbal update on the status of the New Children’s Hospital Ireland (NCHI) and CHI Integration, Commissioning and Operational Readiness Programme. The briefing updated the Committee specifically on the Clinical Integration Review and the challenges highlighted in it, confirming that it will come to the Committee at a later meeting.

REO Dublin Midlands left the meeting

5.1 Recruitment, Retention, Turnover and Absences

The CPO presented the latest HR performance data to the Committee which covered: Workforce Data – Pay and Numbers; Targeted Actions; Disability Workforce Focus; Staff Absences; and Resourcing and recruitment initiatives. The CPO highlighted regional recruitment, agency conversion and increased college places as key enablers for reaching required recruitment levels. The Committee queried how many competitions are filled from internal as opposed to external applicants and the CPO confirmed she would revert with this information.

The Committee discussed staff absence rates, noting that the situation in Ireland is consistent with data from other jurisdictions. The Committee also noted that the Pay and Numbers Strategy for Disability services is still in a deliberative process.

The Committee noted the paper provided by the CPO which provided a comparison on the number of employees at Grade VIII and above December 2023 - August 2025 which was circulated in advance of the meeting. This had been requested by the Committee to provide insight into the WTE impact of management roles arising as part of the regionalisation. The CPO confirmed that this had been carried out on a grade neutral basis and that sanction from the DOH would be required for additional posts.

AND Disabilities Transformation, AND Access and Integration, GM Disabilities Coordination and Transformation joined the meeting

6.1 Disability Services

The AND Disabilities Transformation updated the Committee on Disability Services. The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which covered: Assessment of Need and the proposed changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005; Children’s Disability Network Teams; Capital Expenditure; and the plan to replace the Roadmap for Service Improvement 2023 – 2026.

In particular, the Committee discussed the disabilities services budget and its likely deficit by year end. The AND Disabilities Transformation confirmed that the Pay and Numbers Strategy for Disability services is still in a deliberative process and highlighted the importance of the allocation of the 2026 budget.

The Committee discussed the organisation structure of Disability Services and requested that an updated org chart be provided as part of the next update. The Committee agreed that AND Disabilities Transformation should provide an update to the Committee every two months instead of monthly.

AND Disabilities Transformation, AND Access and Integration, GM Disabilities Coordination and Transformation left the meeting

AND Performance joined the meeting

7.1 National Performance Report (NPR) August 2025 Data

The NPR (August 2025 Data) and accompanying briefing paper, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, were noted. The August 2025 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 and Emergency Care; Scheduled Care; Urgent Colonoscopies; Cancer Rapid Access Clinics; AND Primary Care Therapies which were highlighted by the ND Planning and Performance.

The format of the report was discussed and it was noted that it will be updated in 2026 following approval of the NSP 2026. The Committee noted that a single months variance in itself is not an indicator of poor performance and overall trends offer the most valuable insight which the new format will utilise.

AND Performance left the meeting

8.1 Therapies Performance

ND National Services and Schemes joined the meeting

The ND National Services and Schemes updated the Committee on Primary Care Therapy Waiting Lists. The Committee noted the paper circulated in advance of the meeting which covered: Community Healthcare Networks (CHNs) National Summary; Measures to address Primary Care Therapy Waiting Lists; Issues and Challenges; and Activity to date HSE Dublin and Southeast.

In particular, the Committee discussed the expected impact of the establishment of the Integrated Health Areas (IHAs) will have on waiting list management. The ND National Services and Schemes highlighted the work underway in HSE Dublin and Southeast, advising that maintaining a strong focus on implementation will be critical and the roll out of the EHR will also be a key enabler.

It was agreed that the ND Services and Schemes would submit a quarterly report to the Committee on Primary Care Waiting Lists going forward.

ND National Services and Schemes left the meeting

8.2 Older Persons

AND Older Persons Services joined the meeting

The AND Older Persons Services updated the Committee on Older Persons Services (OPS). The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which covered: an Overview of OPS; Developments in OPS; Home Support Service Provision; NSP 2025 Home Support Services; Home Support Hours KPIs 2018-2024, Home Support Finance; Current Initiatives in OPS; Proposed Legislative Change; Home Support Operating Model; ICT Enablement under Digital for Care; and International Best Practice.

The Committee discussed in particular the increasing demand for home support and reliance on the private sector to meet this demand and queried whether the services provided are subject to audit. It was highlighted that in some areas there are audit team resources in place which audit indirect service provision against the service specification. In the absence of an ICT system in Home Support services currently, data available is limited and the AND Older Persons Services confirmed that ICT and the EHR will be a key enabler to improve reliability.

It was agreed that the AND Older Persons Services would report to the Committee on OPS every two months going forward and that a report on the Commission on Care for Older People should be covered as part of this update when available.

AND Older Persons Services left the meeting

9.1 NSP 2026 Update / 9.2 Performance and Accountability Framework 2026

The ND P&P provided an update to the Committee in relation to the National Service Plan (NSP) 2026. The Committee noted the papers circulated in advance of the meeting which covered: Letters of Determination; Review of first draft pre-LOD version of the NSP; Activity levels; Key Performance Indicators and data 2026; New and Replacement beds 2026; Infrastructure and Digital Capital Plans; and the Performance and Accountability Framework.

The Committee discussed in particular the Performance Accountability Framework and how accountability will be measured as part of this NSP. The Committee noted the proposed timelines which were variable dependant on receipt of the LODs on and agreed to hold special meetings as required during the drafting of the NSP 2026.

No matters arose under this item.

The meeting ended at 15:10.