Sláintecare resignations: Donnelly meets former executive director Magahy

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly met former executive director of the Sláintecare implementation group Laura Magahy on Tuesday night.

Ms Magahy stepped down last week along with Prof Tom Keane, the chairman of the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Council, over the slow pace of change being carried out under the 10-year plan to overhaul the health service.

Mr Donnelly confirmed that he met Ms Magahy but said there was nothing to report from their meeting.

A spokesman for the Minister described their encounter as a “standard meeting around lots of issues” and looking at “various elements of the ongoing reform.”

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Ms Magahy and Mr Donnelly discussed the reasons for her departure last week when she handed in her resignation. She continues to work out a notice period at the Department of Health where she is a deputy secretary general.

The contents of Ms Magahy’s resignation letter have yet to be disclosed.

Prof Keane said in a letter explaining his resignation last week that “the requirements for implementing this unprecedented programme for change are seriously lacking.”

Mr Donnelly is due to meet members of the Sláintecare Implementation Advisory Committee in a virtual meeting on Thursday.

The Minister has received a letter from the council with a series of questions seeking details on the background to the resignations of Ms Magahy and Prof Keane over the reform plan.

Among the series of questions they ask Mr Donnelly is why the Sláintecare project was not based in the Department of the Taoiseach as originally proposed.

They also want to know why Ms Magahy was not the lead health management negotiator when talks on a new public-only contract for hospital consultants – a key element of the reform plan – resumed earlier this month.

The letter also asks Mr Donnelly to clarify whether there was a reluctance to implement the restructuring of the health service into six regional health hubs as planned under the reforms and whether this was a factor in the resignations.

The Minister has also been asked to outline what arrangements have been made to replace Ms Magahy on an interim and permanent basis and whether her replacement will have the same position of deputy secretary general.

A member of the Sláintecare council, Liam Doran, the former general secretary of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, said there had been “growing frustration” on the advisory council in recent months at the pace of progress on the reforms.

Mr Doran told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that for Ms Magahy and Prof Keane to “fold their tent” told the council that there was something “seriously amiss” in the political and managerial commitment to carry out the reforms.

“Sláintecare is in serious trouble unless there is a complete refreshing of the commitment and actions more than words are now needed,” he said.

Asked whether he would consider resigning from the council if they did not get a commitment on “bottom lines” on Sláintecare, he said: “I think everyone will have to consider where they are.”