Irish Medical Times Medical News for Healthcare Professionals
A new organisation, the Voluntary Healthcare Forum (VHF), is engaging with policymakers to promote the role of voluntary hospitals at a time of wide-ranging reform in the healthcare sector.
Left to right: John Gleeson, Chair, Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital; Alan Ashe, Chair, VHF; and Sandra Daly, CEO, Mercy University HospitaL
The VHF, with a membership of 20 leading acute hospitals drawn from across Ireland, including the Dublin maternity and children’s hospitals, manages a combined budget of €1 billion-plus and provides a third of the care in the acute sector, including many national specialities, from cardiothoracic surgery to spinal injuries.
Speaking at a press briefing at the Coombe Women and Infant’s University Hospital recently, VHF Chair Alan Ashe said: “Ultimately the Voluntary Healthcare Forum is committed to achieving the best possible standard of patient care.
“We are fully embracing current health policy and are collaborating with the Department of Health and HSE to ensure that the best of what the voluntary hospitals do is reflected in the healthcare reforms now under way, as well as in future policy decisions.
“As part of that wider collaboration, we will be holding our inaugural conference later this month to promote and inform the public about the contribution of voluntary hospitals in Ireland,” Ashe added.
The keynote address at the conference, which takes place at the RCPI on May 27, will be delivered by Jim Breslin, Secretary General of the Department of Health, with other speakers to include: Dr Ruth Barrington, Chair of Treoir; Dr Colm Henry, Programme Lead for Acute Hospitals, HSE; John Morgan, recently retired Chair of the Mater Hospital.
A panel Q&A will also be facilitated by the Managing Director of Prospectus, Vincent Barton.
The Chair of the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, John Gleeson, added that the Forum was fully supportive of the current healthcare reforms, chief among them the hospital groups’ structure.
Under the structure, hospitals will have to work closer together, whether they are operated by the HSE or on a voluntary basis. “The question is how do we all work together to achieve better outcomes for all working in and using the health system,” Gleeson queried.
The CEO of the Mercy University Hospital Sandra Daly explained how the voluntary contribution of her board members’ expertise was invaluable.
“The CEOs wholeheartedly endorse the vision of the Forum and fully support its work and welcome this partnership approach. The chairs and members of hospital boards who give their time and expertise freely make an invaluable voluntary contribution.”
lloyd.mudiwa@imt.ie
