Sláintecare Progress Report 2022 and Action Plan 2023 Published

The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly published the Sláintecare Progress Report 2022 and the Sláintecare Action Plan 2023.

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said, \”the vision for healthcare set out in the Programme for Government is universal healthcare, a public health service which provides the people with access to high quality, affordable care when they need it. The 2017 Sláintecare Report is an essential element in making this vision a reality. The Programme for Government supports Sláintecare as well as adding measures to realise universal healthcare.\”

\”In 2022 and 2023 central elements of Sláintecare have and are being achieved, including the new public-only Consultant Contract, a new community-based service, Enhanced Community Care (ECC), and certain eligibility measures. Many Sláintecare measures have been achieved, or are progressed at pace, while some require significant additional focus, such as eHealth. At the same time, important new Programme for Government measures, also essential to universal healthcare, and which move beyond Sláintecare, are also progressing well. These include clinical strategies and services, acute and critical care capacity and new eligibility measures.\”

\”Through the unprecedented investment in health and social services over the last three years, we now have an additional 17,298 staff working in our health services, 2,400 healthcare workers recruited to the Enhanced Community Care Programme providing more care in the community, 970 additional acute beds and a 25% increase in critical care capacity.\”

The Sláintecare Progress Report 2022 sets out the very significant progress in improving access, affordability and quality in our health and social care services and in the measures taken that are making an immediate impact on the lives of patients, as well as working to deliver foundational longer-term change that will significantly enhance overall capacity and patient centred care.

This progress made last year was underpinned by the highest investment in health and social care in 2022 and 2023 in the history of the State. It enabled investment in innovation and the delivery of integrated services, by investing in people, new care pathways, new technologies, new facilities and new ways of working that will enable us to better respond to the growing health needs of our population.

The Sláintecare Action Plan 2023 looks to build on the very real progress made. In addition to the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy & Action Plan 2021-2023, it is aligned to the Programme for Government, the HSE’s National Service Plan and key policies, national strategies and initiatives. The focus in 2023 will continue to be on improving access, outcomes and affordability for patients by increasing the capacity and effectiveness of the workforce, infrastructure and delivery of patient care.