HSE Strategy and Reform Committee meeting minutes 11 December 2024

Committee Members Present

Tim Hynes (Chair), Brendan Whelan, Matt Walsh, Derick Mitchell, Sarah Barry (Items 2-3), Barry Lowry, Martin Mc Cormack.

HSE Executive Attendance

Damien McCallion (CTTO), Fran Thompson (CIO), Sara Long (REO Dublin and North East), Louise O’Hare (AND Sláintecare Transformation and Innovation Office – Item 3), Gary Holohan (PWC – Item 3), Brian Dunne (ICT Programme Manager UEC - Item 4.2), Patrick Lynch (ND Planning and Performance – Item 4.1), Miin Alikhan (AND Planning – Item 4.1), Sonya Cotter (AND Performance – Item 4.1), 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, noting that the focus of the meeting would be to receive updates on key items and to suggest relevant actions as they became apparent.

2.1 Declarations of Interest

No conflicts of interest were declared.

2.2 Committee Terms of Reference

The Committee noted its Terms of Reference which were approved by the HSE Board on 23 October 2024.

2.3 Briefing on Performance Committee Terms of Reference

The Chair of the Performance Committee briefed the Committee on the Terms of Reference of the Performance Committee. He advised that the relationship between the Performance and Strategy & Research Committees will be managed by the Committee Chairs who will attend meetings of both Committees. This will ensure that agenda items are aligned and resolve any potential issues of overlap.

2.4 Meeting Dates 2025

The Committee agreed the monthly meeting dates for 2025.

The CTTO updated the Committee on the HSE Transformation Programme and presented the ‘Driving Change and Transforming Services’ document, which was circulated in advance of the meeting, to the Committee. The CTTO advised that the document was still draft and subject to approval by the CEO.

The CTTO confirmed that the transformation priorities outlined in the above document align with the objectives of the HSE Corporate Plan and the programmes included in Sláintecare, and highlighted that that the establishment of the six Health Regions provides a governance framework to ensure the implementation of these transformational changes is carried out consistently across each region. The proposed approach to prioritisation and strategic oversight of these Transformation Priorities will provide improved assurance and visibility of change to the HSE and the Department of Health.

In particular, the Committee discussed the Governance and Assurance section of the above document. The CTTO highlighted that Senior Responsible Officers (SROs), who will likely be SLT members, will be the key drivers for each project. The Committee highlighted that as transformation projects progress, reporting to the Committee should focus on the prioritisation of actions rather than on entire project areas. The Chair emphasised the need for the prioritisation framework, as agreed by the Board in Q2 2024, be sufficiently utilised. The function of the framework is to provide adequate levels of assurance to the Committee and the Board that an appropriate level of consideration (incl. risk management) is undertaken as part of decision making for each project.

In relation to individual projects, the Committee discussed the requirement for the New Children’s Hospital (NCH) and the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) to be monitored by the Committee and the CTTO agreed that both should be focus areas in 2025. The Committee also suggested that additional indicators should be included as part of the Committee’s reporting structure: organisational maturity as it relates to the Digital Decade, and lateral connectivity relating to Healthy Communities. The Committee also highlighted that leadership and culture reform will be key in progressing transformational projects and agreed that this should be a focus area in 2025.

S Barry, L O’Hare and G Holohan left the meeting

B Dunne joined the meeting

4.2 Electronic Health Record (EHR) Business Case

The CTTO presented to the Committee on the National EHR Preliminary Business Case (PBC), advising that the National EHR Programme has been identified as one of the HSE’s 12 key strategic transformation programmes. The National EHR will support the necessary transformation of health services by enabling the HSE to redesign how they deliver care services and address existing challenges in healthcare delivery due to paper based records and disparate clinical IT systems.

The CTTO and REO gave an overview of national and international practice concerning EHRs, referring in particular to engagement with colleagues in Northern Ireland, Canada, France, and Australia. The REO advised that based on the above engagement, the scale of this project cannot be underestimated and the need to have the right leaders and teams in place during the EHR roll out will be critical to the success of the project. The CTTO confirmed that Clinical and Executive Lead posts are on scheduled to be advertised by year end, and that patient and service user representatives are included on the project Oversight Group.

The Committee agreed with SLT members the importance of leadership and culture for the project success and supported a drive in this area. The Committee emphasised the importance of public communication and media engagement for this project. The Committee discussed the connection between the EHR and Single Health Identifier (SHI) and agreed that the SHI will be considered as a focus area in 2025.

The Committee noted the Preliminary Business Case Overview. A further update will be provided as part of the overall approval process for the EHR PBC.

B Dunne left the meeting

4.1 Corporate Plan 2025-2027

ND Planning and Performance, AND Planning, and AND Performance joined the meeting

The ND Planning and Performance provided an update to the Committee on the Corporate Plan process with reference to the briefing papers and the third draft of the 2025-2027 Corporate Plan which were circulated in advance of the meeting. He outlined the current context and timelines for finalising the Corporate Plan, pending any required calibration in line with a new Programme for Government as result of the General Election held on 29 November 2024. The Committee noted that the Corporate Plan will not be approved until the new Minister for Health and Minister for CEDIY are in office.

The new Corporate Plan is due to come into effect from early 2025 pending its final approval by the Board and Ministers. The Plan will fulfil the HSEs legislative requirement for a 3-year Corporate Plan and will establish a roadmap to achieve improvements in health and social care services, enhance population health outcomes, and address health inequalities. The Corporate Plan is currently organised around 5 strategic priorities, 11 strategic objectives and 45 priority actions. Accompanying draft measures and underlying KPIs are also proposed and remain under development. The 5 strategic priorities provided the structure for the HSE’s annual National Service Plan 2025 (submitted to government on 26 November 2024).

The Committee agreed to recommend the draft Corporate Plan to the Board for its meeting on 13 December 2024 on the basis that the Disabilities and Workforce sections are strengthened in the next draft. It was also agreed that the Committee workplan should incorporate the Corporate Plan’s 5 strategic priorities.

No matters arose under this item.

The meeting ended at 13:20.