Report advises single health system for Cork and Kerry

The HSE has published a report which says that hospital and community services in Cork and Kerry should work together to form a single health system.

The report was created by Horwath Consulting Ireland and Teamwork Management Services. It illustrates how the health services in Cork and Kerry need to be adapted in order to comply with international standards, and in doing so, improve their services to patients.

The Teamwork report recommends that:

• an integrated healthcare system is brought in, with a new system of governance
• more attention should be paid to the provision of complex care in a centralised regional centre, which should be delivered by consultant teams and be available around the clock
• there should be a single GP referral system and a single patient record system
• existing services will be replaced only after improved services have been tested and proven to be effective and safe.

A Reconfiguration Forum has been set up – made up of GPs, community health services and all the acute hospitals in Cork and Kerry – which has been tasked with looking at the recommendations of the report to assess how, and to what extent, they can be implemented.