Health boards look set to be replaced by four regional executive bodies, according to a major audit of the health service, The Irish Timeshas reported this morning.
The report was done by Prospectus Management Consultants with the Department of Health. It recommends a new national hospitals' agency take responsibility for all hospitals in the Republic, including the independent voluntary hospitals.
A smaller Department of Health focusing on strategy development and policy making is also recommended. Local political representation on the regional executive bodies will be reduced in favour of greater professional and consumer representation.
To incorporate the changes, new legislation will be drafted to replace the 1970 Health Act.
The publication of the Prospectus report next month is expected to be joined by the long-awaited report of the Medical Manpower Task Force. This is expected to plot the changes needed for a consultant-provided health system.
The number of Health Agencies is also to be significantly reduced from 57 to around 35.