Reconfiguration of South West Health Services - Cork and Kerry

The health services in Cork and Kerry are undergoing a comprehensive reconfiguration process during the next five years which will involve change for all staff working in the region and for those accessing services. The key end point for the reconfiguration process is that the people of Cork and Kerry will benefit from having an unified healthcare system, integrated with all other elements of the health service, which will:

• achieve the best possible health outcomes for the people it serves,
• realise for the people of the region the economic and other benefits that flow from leading edge health research, technology and innovation
• deliver value for money.

In order to achieve this, the following will take place:

• Integrate all complex care, including cancer and trauma, in a single centre
• Deliver as much as possible elective and non-complex care as close as possible to people’s homes
• Organise consultants to work in regional teams for Cork and Kerry
• Develop clinical governance structures to integrate care pathways between acute and community services
• Build regional governance structures for the acute hospitals and with higher education institutions in the region
• Develop research and innovation campus on a clinical site
• Allocate resources in ways that encourage efficiency and effectiveness.

Mr. Pat Healy

Pat Healy is Regional Director of Operations for the HSE South and Professor John Higgins is Director of Reconfiguration, Acute Services, Cork and Kerry. Over 40 subgroups representing the medical and surgical specialties in Cork and Kerry were established. These subgroups are comprised of staff from the six acute hospitals, namely, Bantry General Hospital, Cork University Hospital, Kerry General Hospital, Mallow General Hospital, Mercy University Hospital and South/Infirmary Victoria University Hospital along with staff from Primary, Community and Continuing Care Services, GPs and other interested parties such as UCC.The subgroups were asked to report on how each specialty should be structured, organised and run in order to deliver an integrated healthcare service for Cork and Kerry.

Professor John Higgins

Most of the subgroups have completed their report and their recommendations are now being analysed. The recommendations will form the basis for an overall Reconfiguration Plan for Cork and Kerry. Once the plan is complete it will be made available to staff and other key stakeholders for consultation before it is published.  According to Prof. John Higgins, Director of Reconfiguration “ We are currently examining all the recommendations from the subgroups and no decisions have been made as to which services will be moved from one hospital to another in order to achieve an integrated healthcare service. Once we will decide collectively what are the best moves to make for our patients and clients we will inform our staff and patients.”

To date the following tasks have been prioritised as part of the reconfiguration process:

• Establish haemochromatosis testing at Cork University Hospital on a pilot basis
• Publish the Expert Review of Emergency Services and Pre-Hospital Emergency Care
• Establish the Advanced Paramedic team in West Cork
• Complete a Theatre Utilisation Study
• Complete a Lean ward project
• Implement a single GP referral system to all hospitals
• Establish a single patient chart and number for use in each of the six hospitals
• Improve ICT including image transfer such as radiology images
• Outline the steps to create new governance structures.

“As we develop further priorities, we will continue to work with staff and other key stakeholders during the entire reconfiguration process in order to develop the best possible outcomes for patients and clients,” concluded Prof. Higgins.