HSE Service Delivery

Table of Contents

Corporate Plans

The Executive must prepare three-year corporate plans. It must be submitted to the Minister for approval.

There are provisions for amendment. The plan must have regard to government policy. It must specify the objectives of the Executive for that period.

There are requirements regarding the publication and implementation of a plan. The Executive must provide progress reports on its implementation annually to the Minister.

Service Plans

The Executive must prepare and adopt a service plan specifying services to be provided for units’ financial limits as determined by the Minister for the financial year in respect of noncapital expenditure. There is a provision for approval of the plan. The Minister may direct amendments to the plan. The Minister may determine priorities to which the Executive must have regard.

The Executive is obliged to deliver services in accordance with its service plan within its noncapital expenditure allocation. The Executive may borrow money with the consent of the Minister and concurrence of the Department of Finance. The Minister specified the maximum indebtedness that may be incurred.

There are provisions regarding the allocation of capital spending and accountability. The Minister is to inform the Executive of the total capital amount available in the financial year, and the Executive must prepare a capital plan in accordance with it. There is a provision for amendment of the multi-year capital plan.

The Minister may make grants to the Executive. The consent of the Minister is required for undertaking capital projects above an amount set by the Minister from time to time.

The 2012 legislation amends the arrangements in relation to the preparation of service plans. The HSE is to prepare a plan in line with existing criteria and take account of priorities and targets set by the Minister. Meanwhile, the Minister may direct the HSE to amend the plan. The Minister may amend the plan following consultation with the HSE.

The Minister is to consult with the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs. The HSE is to manage health and personal social services provided for in an approved service plan so as to ensure they are delivered in accordance with the plan. The Minister may direct specified measures to be taken in relation to the implementation of the plan.

The HSE is to submit a code of governance to the Minister for approval. It shall set out the roles of the HSE structures and responsibilities.

HSE Executive

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the implementation of the executive service plan and capital plan. He must inform the Board of any decisions which will breach the limits. If the Board does not take steps to ensure this does not occur, the Minister must be informed.

The Executive must submit a code of governance for approval by the Minister. It is to be reviewed periodically. The Executive is to make arrangements to report on compliance.

The Executive must keep accounts of income and expenditure and prepare any other statement. They are to be adopted by the Board annually.

The Board is to prepare an annual report in relation to the performance of its functions during the preceding year. It must be submitted to the Minister, who must lay it before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Executive must publish its annual report.

The Executive may make arrangements with other entities for the provision of services. The legislation specifies conditions applicable to such arrangements. The Executive must inform the service provider of the funding available annually and the level of the services required.

Service providers must submit accounts in respect of services they provide to the Executive. The Executive may dispense with this requirement for providers in receipt of grants below a certain amount.

Service Providers

The Executive may, subject to its available resources and any directions issued by the Minister , enter, on such terms and conditions as it considers appropriate, into an arrangement with a person for the provision of a health or personal social service by that person on behalf of the Executive.

Before entering into such an arrangement, the Executive shall determine, in respect of a financial year of the Executive, the maximum amount of funding (whether capital funding or non-capital funding) that it proposes to make available in that year under the arrangement and the level of service it expects to be provided for that funding.

Service Provider Accounts

A service provider shall—

keep, in such form as may be approved by the Executive in accordance with any general direction issued by the Minister, all proper and usual accounts and records of income received and expenditure incurred by it,

submit such accounts annually for audit and
supply a copy of the audited accounts and the auditor’s certificate and report on the accounts to the Executive within such period as may be specified by the Executive.

The expenses of an audit of accounts submitted are payable by the service provider submitting them for audit.

The Executive may be exempt from the requirements

a service provider who in any one financial year receives from the Executive in respect of health and personal social services provided on behalf of the Executive a total sum that does not exceed the amount that may be determined by the Minister or
such other categories of service providers as may be specified by the Minister.

Monitoring Service Providers

The Executive may make such arrangements as it considers appropriate to monitor the expenditure incurred in the provision of health or personal social services by service providers exempted and the provision of those services by such service providers.

The Executive may request from a service provider any information that it considers material to the provision of a health or personal social service by the service provider. A service provider shall comply with a request made to the service provider.

At the Minister’s request, the Executive shall supply the Minister with any information obtained in response to a request.

Assistance for Certain Bodies

The Executive may, subject to any directions given by the Minister and on such terms and conditions as it sees fit to impose, give assistance to any person or body that provides or proposes to provide a service similar or ancillary to a service that the Executive may provide.

Assistance may be provided under this section in any of the following ways:

by contributing to the expenses incurred by the person or body;
by permitting the use by the person or body of premises maintained by the Executive and, where requisite, executing alterations and repairs to and upplying furniture and fittings for such premises;
by providing premises (with all requisite furniture and fittings) for use by the person or body.

Assistance may be provided to a person whether or not then person is a service provider.

Health Forum

The Minister must convene a national health consultative forum to advise him on matters relating to health and personal social services. He may specify provisions regarding his membership, rules and procedures.

The Minister may establish four Regional Health Forums. The Forums make representations to the Executive as it considers appropriate regarding the delivery of health and personal social services.

A Forum is to be composed of members of each city and County Council within the region. The Minister is to make regulations regarding the establishment and operation of the Forum. The Executive may provide administrative and other support to them.

The Executive may consult with local communities or groups about health and personal social services. This includes the establishment of panels to advise the HSE to enable it to ascertain and seek the views of users, service providers and others. The Minister may direct the Executive to establish an advisory panel for a particular purpose and determine its terms of reference.

Complaints

Complaints may be made about actions of the executive or service providers that do not accord with fair and sound administrative practice and adversely affect the complainant. Actions that are not in accord with fair and sound administrative practice are defined.

Provision is made for complaints to be made on behalf of persons unable to do so because of age, disability or illness or in the case of deceased persons. There is a time limit applicable to making complaints, which may be extended in exceptional circumstances.

The HSE must establish complaints procedures in respect of its own services or those provided by other entities it retains. Such bodies may provide their own complaints procedures with the agreement of the Executive. The Minister may assign its duty and functions to another entity.

Vexatious complaints are to be dismissed. Complaints will only be considered if they are within certain criteria. A complaint that would require amendment of the executive service plan or under a body’s arrangement with the Executive for service provision on its behalf may not be accepted.

Bodies providing services for the Executive must have an equivalent complaint procedure. Regulations may be made for the purpose of the provisions in relation to complaints.

A person dissatisfied with a recommendation made pursuant to a complaints procedure or an action taken in response to a complaint may bring a complaint if appropriate to the Ombudsman or the Ombudsman for Children.

The Executive signing a report is to include a report on the operations of its complaints procedure during the year. A service provider must report on its own complaints procedure. If a third-party body is assigned to deal with complaints it must make a report annually to the Executive on its functions and work in this regard.