HSE Technology and Transformation Committee meeting minutes 20 March 2024

Members Present

Tim Hynes (Chair), Fergus O’Kelly, Martin McCormack, Rosaleen Killalea, Derick Mitchell (left approx. 15:45), Brendan Whelan, Barry Lowry.

HSE Executive Attendance

Fran Thompson (Chief Information Officer), John Ward (Interim Chief Technology Transformation Officer), Damien McCallion (Chief Operations Officer), Niamh Drew (Deputy Corporate Secretary), Rebecca Kennedy (Office of the Board).

Joined the Meeting

Joyce Shaw (eHealth Head of Business Operations – Item 2.4), Julie Bellew (eHealth – Item 3), Katie O’Rourke (ICT Deputy Delivery Director – Item 3), Liam Woods (ND Health Regions Programme – Item 7), Patrick Lynch (Chief Risk Officer – Item 7), Tom McGuinness (AND Emergency Management – Item 9).

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 approved the minutes of 24 January 2024

2.3 Committee Annual Report 2023

The Committee approved the draft Committee Annual Report which had been circulated in advance of the meeting.

2.4 Committee matters for noting

1. IFMS Update An update on the IFMS project which was circulated in advance of the meeting was noted by the Committee.
   The Committee received a presentation from J Shaw in relation to the eHealth Talent Plan which outlined the expansion of the eHealth workforce and its strategic focus on diversity and inclusion. An overview of the demographics of additional staff hired in the past 3 years and the most recent eHealth Newsletter, which were circulated in advance of the meeting, were noted.
2. Microsoft reseller agreement renewal.
   The Committee discussed the proposed Office 365 (and related) subscription annual renewals. It was noted that this is a standard contract renewal which is following public service requirements and agreed to recommend to the Board for sign off.
3. IFMS Update.
   An update on the IFMS project which was circulated in advance of the meeting was noted by the Committee.

3.1 Score Card 14 - eHealth

The Committee discussed the eHealth section of the BSS (January KPI data) which was prepared for inclusion with the BSS Report for the March Board meeting and circulated to the Committee in advance of the meeting.

It was noted that there was little to report this month due to the time of year and there will be more to be learned from the data provided later this year.

4.1 CTTO Air Traffic Control Report

The CTTO presented to the Committee the dashboard which was developed for the January 2024 meeting and approved by the Committee as its primary reporting mechanism. Its goal is to provide a broad view of relevant programmes under the headings of eHealth Achievements, Run, Grow, Transform, and Protect.

The Committee discussed staffing and the CTTO advised that the eHealth hiring target for this year has not yet been set. The Committee highlighted the importance of succession planning and asked for a breakdown of tenure by level in HSE and information on retention rates, especially in new hires, be provided at a future meeting.

The CTTO presented on the current ICT Capital Plan spend, advising that there will be more substantial spending to report later in the year. The Committee requested that a 3-year rolling plan of eHealth projects be provided at a future meeting.

The CTTO advised the Committee on the Change Healthcare cyber-attack which occurred in the US in February 2024. Change Healthcare provide the NIMIS Solution to the HSE. The Committee was assured that there was no compromise of HSE service as a result of this cyber-attack.

The CTTO updated the Committee on progress in relation to the HSE Digital Health Strategic Implementation Roadmap (DHSIR), advising that they are entering the final stages of the development. The process has been intensive and involved significant effort and stakeholder engagement across Health, wider government and private sector. Subject to the Department of Health’s internal governance, the eHealth team wish to move forward to Board approval of the DHSIR and its publication in due course.

The Committee agreed to recommend the DHSIR to the Board for approval, on the provision that updates are provided on governance as it progresses and on the communications surrounding the eventual launch.

6.1 TeleHealth / Virtual Wards

J Bellew presented to the Committee on the development of Acute Virtual Wards (AVW), a key strategic initiative that is enabled by the use of technology to support the ongoing and remote care of patients. AVW supports patients who would otherwise be in hospital to receive the acute care, monitoring and treatment they need in their own home or place of residence using a variable combination of technology, remote monitoring, and face-to-face care. Work is well underway to deliver two 25 bed virtual care wards in 2024.

The Committee queried the types of patients which may be eligible for this care and were advised that patients in AVW are still fully under the care of the hospital and clinicians will be making the call on which patients will be suitable for AVW. The Committee also discussed workforce planning of the AVW and were advised that they will be separately staffed wards with a possibility to rotate staff to other parts of the hospital. The impact of the current recruitment freeze on the AVW and requirement for the necessary training/upskilling for staff was also highlighted.

The Committee thanked the team for their presentation and expressed their full support for the development of AVW.

L Woods presented to the Committee work completed to date, the key next steps and deliverables for the implementation of Health Regions. He advised that the HSE Health Regions Implementation Plan was approved by Cabinet in July 2023 and sets out a high-level roadmap and the key essential elements to operationalise Health Regions and includes key input / feedback from service and clinical leaders.

The Committee queried the presented organisational structure and whether the regional eHealth directors would be reporting directly to the CTTO as had been requested by the Committee previously. It was agreed that this would be discussed with the CEO and clarified at a later meeting.

In relation to risk, the Committee noted the top risks in the Health Region Programme, as well as the updated CRR which was circulated in advance of the meeting. L Woods confirmed that REO risk reporting requirements are currently under development. The Committee queried whether they will be on the same risk register which L Woods confirmed they will be. Regarding proposals to manage ICT risks within the new structures, the COO advised that more detail on how overall risks to delivery will be managed will become clearer following the development of the Implementation Roadmap.

The COO gave the Committee a verbal update on progress in relation to the Prioritisation Framework for Transformation. Examples of some programmes which will fall under the framework were outlined and it was agreed that a summary document of these programmes be provided to the Committee.

The Committee emphasised the importance of a clear model to work within for the delivery of these programmes and highlighted that international best practice needs to be considered.

9.1 HSE Policy as it pertains to T&T

T McGuinness presented to the Committee on the approach to date to design a HSE Business Continuity Management (BCM) Policy and Handbook. The Committee were advised that the HSE has proven in recent years to be a resilient organisation which responds when needed to unprecedented events, however, in 2022 a Current State Assessment of Operational and Clinical Resilience identified that business continuity processes are not standardised and aligned across the organisation.

T McGuinness confirmed that external support was procured in June 2023 to assist with the design of a BCM Policy and a supporting guidance Handbook. These draft documents set out how the HSE could manage disruptive events that impact on the continuity of patient and service user care and the wider delivery of health services. They follow an ISO-standards based approach and are aligned to international best practice.

The Committee thanked T McGuinness for his presentation and expressed their full support for the development of the BCM Policy and Handbook. It was agreed that the final drafts should come back to the Committee for approval when available.

It was agreed that the Committee may need to meet monthly for 2024 and this would be confirmed with members by the Secretariat.

The meeting concluded at 17:17.