The reports are the latest in a line of Sláintecare implementation and progress reports since the policy was first published in 2017. The Sláintecare 2025+ report sets out system wide reform programmes to be implemented over the period 2025–2027 and beyond. This is the third government to support Sláintecare and in the report, current health minister Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill specifies how it “outlines the roadmap towards a high-quality, universal healthcare system in Ireland”.
Twenty-three individual programmes are set out to achieve the strategic goals around improving access to health and social care services across three priority areas:
- Increase access to health and social care services
- Improve service quality for patients and service users
- Increase capacity of the health and social care service.
Supporting the delivery of these strategic priorities are a set of enabling reforms that include the establishment of the health regions, implementation of digital transformations, and healthcare innovation and increased productivity.
These strategic priorities were also reflected in the Implementation Progress Report 2024, where the following were reported:
- Improving access – increase in the number of community residential and acute beds; additional primary care centres opened; reduction in wait times; 95% of GPs have signed up to the Chronic Disease Management Programme; and 2,770 consultants (>50%) have signed the Public Only Consultant Contract.
- Improving service quality – 81% of the population reported being in good health. National Men’s Health Action Plan and National Mental Health Promotion Plan both published in November/December 2024.
- Building capacity – 42% increase in WTE Consultants on the 2019 figure employed in the health service. The Acute Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan was published, aiming to increase a total of 3,438 new acute beds and 929 replacement beds by 2031. Two more elective treatment centre sites were identified in Dublin.
- Enabling reform – National Electronic Health Record Programme and the National Shared Care Record are progressing; the HSE App will have a wider roll-out in 2025; two virtual acute wards are operational; the HSE Health Regions commenced in April; the productivity and savings taskforce achieved its full €251 million savings target; and 16 projects were funded to test as a proof of concept in 2024 under rounds two and three of the Sláintecare Integration Innovation Fund.