HSE Strategy & Reform Committee Meeting Minutes 9 September 2025

Committee Members Present:

Tim Hynes (Chair), Brendan Whelan, Matt Walsh, Sarah Barry, Martin Mc Cormack, Derick Mitchell, Barry Lowry, Aogán Ó Fearghail.

HSE Executive Attendance:

Damien McCallion (CTTO), Sara Long (REO Dublin and North East), Dara Purcell (Corporate Secretary), Rebecca Kennedy (Office of the Board).

Joined the Meeting:

Joe Ryan (CRO), Brian O’Connell (ND Strategic Health Infrastructure and Capital Delivery), Patrick Lynch (ND Planning and Performance), Stephen Mulvany (Chief Financial Officer), Louise O’Hare (AND Sláíntecare Transformation and Innovation Office).

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 Meeting Minutes

The Committee approve the minutes of 17 June 2025.

2.3 Matters for Noting

The Committee noted the Health Service Innovation in Focus paper provided by the CTTO which was circulated in advance of the meeting.

HSE Executive members joined the meeting

The CRO presented the Q2 2025 Corporate Risk Register (CRR) and accompanying Committee extract and metric report to the Committee. The Q2 2025 Corporate Risk Register was reviewed and approved at the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meeting on 05 August 2025 and was due to be subsequently reviewed by the Audit and Risk Committee on 12 September 2025.

The Committee discussed its allocated principal risks (R006 Major Infrastructure, R007 Cyber Security and R008 Health Regions) and noted no change to risk status to R006 and R008. In relation to R007, the CRO highlighted that the cyber threat continues at a high level though there was no increase in residual risk rating. The Committee queried risk governance in CHI and the CRO confirmed that this is owned within Regional structures rather than as part of the Centre’s CRR.

CRO left the meeting

ND Strategic Health Infrastructure and Capital Delivery joined the meeting

4.1 National Maternity Hospital

The ND Strategic Health Infrastructure and Capital Delivery (SHICD) briefed the Committee on the National Maternity Hospital (NMH) at St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH) Programme. The Committee noted the paper circulated in advance of the meeting which covered: the Main Contractor and Project Overview; Overall Project Cost; Economic appraisal; Current Project Status and Timelines; and Risk Management.

ND SHICD confirmed that the final business case has now gone to the Department of Health. The Committee discussed the proposed communications plan around the project, noting there is a Communications sub-Committee in place. The ND SHICD confirmed to the Committee that he is happy with progress made in standing up appropriate accountability structures for the project. It was agreed that further information would be provided to the Committee at its next meeting.

ND Strategic Health Infrastructure and Capital Delivery left the meeting

4.2 National Electronic Health Record (EHR)

The CTTO updated the Committee on progress on the EHR Programme Preliminary Business case (PBC). The Committee noted papers circulated in advance of the meeting which included: EHR Programme Priority Next Steps; Service Transformation Statement of Requirements (SoR); Technology Transformation; Programme Governance; Programme Leadership; Stakeholder Engagement and Communications; and Risk Management.

The CTTO confirmed that pre-market consultation has begun and advised the Committee on the features which will be built into proposed contracts. The Committee discussed in particular the governance of the programme which the CTTO confirmed is currently being strengthened via recruitment of key roles at Regional level. The Committee highlighted that the data strategy will be a key enabler for the project and it was agreed that this would be considered in more detail at the next meeting of the Committee.

ND Planning and Performance joined the meeting

The ND Planning and Performance updated the Committee on the status of HSE Corporate Plan 2025-2027. The Committee noted papers circulated in advance of the meeting which provided updates on: the Corporate Plan and National Service Plans; Monitoring Implementation of the Corporate Plan; and the National Performance Report (NPR) June – July and Q2 Status Update.

The ND Planning Performance confirmed that the National Service Plan (NSP) 2026 will be drafted in alignment with the Corporate Plan. The Committee agreed to refer further discussion in relation to the NSP 2026 to the Performance Committee’s next meeting on 19 September where the NSP was scheduled as a focus area.

ND Planning and Performance and A Ó Fearghail left the meeting

CFO and S Barry joined the meeting

The CFO joined the Committee on invitation from the Chair to facilitate a discussion regarding a multi-year approach to funding.

The Committee discussed the impact of data and how better demographic understanding could facilitate a more strategic approach to financial planning. It was highlighted that multi-year planning should include improved forecasting, demand modelling and cost control, providing the ability to track variability on what costs change and what ones don’t. The CFO highlighted that IFMS should provide significant data and cost control facilities when it is operating at its full scope.

It was agreed that the CFO would provide a paper to the Committee outlining (1) main cost drivers of budget increases, demonstrating a breakdown of cost drivers into fixed and variable costs over both existing levels of service and new development spend over past 6-7 years and (2) outlining external factors which influenced it.

CFO, D Mitchell and M Walsh left the meeting

7.1 Driving Change and Transforming Services – Quarterly Portfolio Report

AND Sláíntecare Transformation and Innovation Office (STIO) joined the meeting

The Committee noted the Quarterly Transformation Portfolio Report Q3 and associated documentation submitted by the CTTO and circulated in advance of the meeting. The papers provided a strategic and integrated overview of each of the priority programmes within the HSE Transformation Portfolio. The CTTO highlighted that each of the programmes underpin the delivery of major Sláintecare reforms and other critical service developments.

The Committee discussed oversight of the programmes and queried how good initiatives are recognised and rolled out. The CTTO advised there is variation depending on the initiative, but it would generally be scaled within the relevant Region and there is a framework under development to create a more uniform process nationally.

CTTO, REO Dublin and North East, and AND STIO left the meeting

The Committee discussed the topics which arose during the meeting and what should be included on its workplan for 2026. It was agreed that a separate discussion would be scheduled to consider this in more detail with the relevant SLT in attendance.

No matters arose under this item.

The meeting ended at 15:10.

Terms of Reference: Strategy and Reform Committee