Sláintecare to be restructured with Taskforce to tackle waiting lists, Donnelly confirms

"Recent events have cast a shadow over the real progress that has been made."

Sláintecare is set to be restructured with a Taskforce to tackle waiting lists, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly has confirmed. A new Sláintecare group compromising of six members to advise the Department of Health on Regional Health Areas is also expected to become operational next month. Donnelly confirmed on Sunday that he would be re-structuring the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council following recent resignations. It comes after a third Sláintecare resignation came on Thursday evening as Doctor Anthony O'Connor stepped down from the council. This was a major blow to the programme as O'Connor is the third resignation, with both Executive Director Laura Magahy and Professor Tom Keane, chairman of the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Committee, stepping down earlier this month. Donnelly said that as the Council had been due to expire later this month, saying that instead of renewing it, he plans to create a new group to advise his department on Regional Health Areas. In a letter on Saturday night, Donnelly said: "A number of members of the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council have kindly agreed to join this new group and I am hugely grateful. "Many are concerned about our waiting lists, I am equally concerned and I am establishing a Taskforce to tackle our waiting lists." The Health Minister added that "recent events have cast a shadow over the real progress that has been made in terms of increasing capacity." "We have delivered record annual increases in staff and bed numbers, and increased our critical care capacity by 25% since the beginning of 2020," he continued in the letter seen by RTE to the outgoing members of the Sláintecare Council. Main Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie.