The Health Service Executive (HSE) is responsible for providing Health and Personal Social Services for everyone living in the Republic of Ireland. As outlined in the Health Act, 2004, the objective of the Executive is to use the resources available to it in the most beneficial, effective and efficient manner to improve, promote and protect the health and welfare of the public.
The HSE provides thousands of different services in hospitals and communities across the country. These services range from public health nurses treating older people in the community to caring for children with challenging behaviour; from educating people how to live healthier lives to performing highly-complex brain surgery; from planning for major emergencies to controlling the spread of infectious diseases. At some stage every year, everybody in Ireland will use one or more of the services provided. They are of vital importance to the entire population.
The establishment of the HSE represents the beginning of the largest programme of change ever undertaken in the Irish public service. Prior to this, services were delivered through a complex structure of ten regional Health Boards, the Eastern Regional Health Authority and a number of other different agencies and organisations. The HSE replaces all of these organisations. It is now the single body responsible for ensuring that everybody can access cost effective and consistently high quality health and personal social services. The service will be delivered making the best use of resources allocated by Government. The largest employer in the State, the HSE employs more than 65,000 staff in direct employment and a further 35,000 staff are funded by the HSE. The budget of almost €12 billion is the largest of any public sector organisation.
The HSE is divided into various functions listed below:
- Primary, Community and Continuing Care
- National Hospitals Office
- Population Health
- Finance
- Human Resources
- Information and Communication Technology
- Shared Services
- Change Management and Organisation Development
- Corporate Affairs
- Corporate Services
- Communications
Primary, Community and Continuing Care
The areas that Primary, Community and Continuing Care has responsibility for include primary care including general practice, community based health and personal social services including those for older persons, children, disability services, mental health services and social inclusion.
National Hospitals Office
The National Hospitals Office is responsible for resource allocation, service delivery and performance management of all 53 statutory and non-statutory acute hospitals in Ireland, through 10 initial hospital networks. A key focus is integrating hospital services with primary care.
Population Health
Population health has overall responsibility for the strategic planning for all aspects of the HSE to positively influence health, health service delivery and outcomes by promoting and protecting the health of the entire population and target groups.
National Director of Finance
The National Finance Directorate will have responsibility for the management of the health system's budget and cash management system. This involves moving from a number of different financial systems to an integrated model, which will occur over time. It will also provide strategic financial and management support to the Board and the National Directors.
Human Resources
National Director for Information and Communication Technology
Information Communication Technology involves the delivery of value-adding ICT supports across the health service to facilitate greater integration and information to support service delivery. The department will work to define policies and standards at national level and supporting implementing at local level.
Shared Services
National Shared Services will be responsible for delivering efficiencies and greater effectiveness in the administration of the health service through transforming processing activities in Finance, Procurement, ICT, Human Resources and the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (GMS).
This will involve moving to five lead sites over time. These sites are Kilkenny, Manorhamilton, Swords, Finglas and Steevens' in Dublin. Steevens' in Dublin.
Change Management and Organisational Development
Change Management Organisational Development will be responsible for driving a strategic approach to managing change within the organisation including direct support from her team to local change management projects.
Corporate Affairs
Functions of Corporate Affairs include:
- Manage the affairs of the board and the chairman
- Corporate Governance
- Freedom of Information
- Parliamentary Affairs
- Client/Patient service division, including complaints.
Corporate Services
Corporate Services Functions include:
- Estate Management and Technical Services
- Corporate Planning including NDP and managing capital programme
- Management of Regional Directors
- Risk and Quality Control
Communications
The Communications Department has overall responsibility for the Health Service Executive's media, internal and external relations.
|
