A PRESCRIPTION FOR CHANGE
12. Other Information
Fairer, safer and more efficient healthcare
HEALTH PLAN HOMEPAGE
UNIVERSAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE
LOCAL HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE SERVICES
HOSPITAL REFORM
MENTAL HEALTH
DELIVERING ON RIGHTS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE
STRATEGIC IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMMES
AGING AND OLDER PERSONS CARE
TACKLING ADDICTION, EMPOWERING RECOVERY
SAFE STAFFING FOR SAFER HEALTHCARE
ACCOUNTABILITY AND REFORM
OTHER KEY INFORMATION
5-Year Funding and Capital Plan
The health service needs real reform. We are proposing a total package of new measures valued at €5.4 billion. This is funded through €3.6 billion in additional current expenditure for the Department of Health, €829m in additional current expenditure for the Department of Disability, and €1 billion in savings and efficiencies by 2030, as set out in the Accountability and Reform section. This is exclusive of additional funding for existing levels of service, which must be evidence-based and account for year-to-year cost pressures such as inflation, demographics, and pay increases.
This built-in savings target of at least €1 billion requires a reprofiling of baseline expenditure totalling 4% of the current health budget. We would set a target of €200 million in savings each year for five years. In the context of significant additional investment, new technology, and more sustainable care systems, we believe these are at the lower end of what can be achieved. A Sinn Féin Government would seek to achieve the maximum savings possible but for the purposes of our funding plan, we are setting a minimum target of €1 billion to part-fund our additional measures. This is a necessary adjustment to ensure the sustainability of the health budget into the future. No funding plan would be credible without a substantial savings target.
Sinn Féin would deliver a €15-billion health capital investment programme over the next term of Government. We would use €2 billion from the Apple Tax Money as well as an allocation to the National Development Plan to immediately provide funding certainty for 5,000 acute hospital beds. This ambitious and future-focussed capital programme includes estimates for 4 new elective hospitals, completing the new children’s hospital, the new maternity hospital, surgical and diagnostic hubs, new primary care centres and community facilities, 5,000 hospital beds, theatre capacity, nursing homes, equipment, machinery, ambulance fleet, and other significant and minor infrastructure works. It also includes estimates to maintain existing stock, advance climate action, and meet regulatory standards. We would specifically ringfence €2 billion for a Digital Transformation Fund. We would also ringfence €1 billion for energy efficiency and climate action measure across the health service.
Priority Legislation
Health (Healthcare for All) Bill, to provide for step-by-step increases towards universal healthcare
Health (Waiting Lists) Bill, to set maximum wait times and to improve transparency and accountability of waiting lists
Patient Safety (Licensing) Bill, to improve statutory patient safety standards for licensed healthcare providers and to legislate for safe staffing levels
Mental Health Reform Bill, to modernise mental health legislation and properly regulate providers and access to care
Health Information Bill, to provide a statutory underpinning for secure and accountable health data systems
Public Health (Nicotine Inhaling Products) Bill, to regulate marketing, packaging, contents, and flavouring of nicotine-inhaling products, and to ban disposable vapes
Health (Licensing of Professional Home Support Providers) Bill, to regulate home care providers
Adult Safeguarding Bill, to provide for rights and regulations to support the safety of adults who are at risk of coercion, neglect, and physical or other harm
Care Partner Bill, to provide legal protection for access for family and friends to care facilities and nursing homes during of public health emergencies
Dental Reform Act, to empower the Dental Council to take action against unregistered dental professionals
No Wrong Door Bill, to place an obligation on the HSE to ensure access to care for people with a dual diagnosis
Public Health (Obesity) Act, to regulate sale and marketing of unhealthy food and drinks, to provide for no-fry zones around schools, and prevent advertising of unhealthy food and drinks on public infrastructure
Health (Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill to remove the 3-day wait and decriminalise doctors providing genuine advice and support
Miscellaneous legislative changes to support professional development, such as pharmacy prescribers and advanced practice physiotherapy, among others.
Key Figures
€3.6 billion additional current expenditure (Health)
€1 billion in savings and reprofiling of current expenditure (Health)
€829 million additional current expenditure (Disability)
€5.4 billion value of additional measures (Health and Disability)
€15 billion total capital expenditure (Health), including €2 billion Apple Tax
€659 million additional capital expenditure (Disability)
€2 billion Digital Transformation Fund
€1 billion Energy Efficiency and Climate Action Fund
25 key measures, 350+ total measures
5 First 100 Days Commitments
40,000 healthcare workers
7,461 additional health beds including 5,000 hospital beds including critical care beds, 2,000 community beds including nursing beds and recovery beds, 50 palliative care beds, 41 CAMHS beds to meet population need, and 400 technology-assisted “hospital care at home” virtual ward beds
Landmark public GP contract and 250 public GPs
14 proposed Bills.
A Prescription for Change - Sinn Féin's Healthcare Plan
Sinn Féin has the plan, vision, and determination to deal with the big challenges in healthcare. Our plan sets out in detail how we will deliver better access to healthcare when you need it, improve access to a GP when you need one, and end the crisis in our Emergency Departments.
Our plan will transform your experience of our health service and to deliver fairer, safer and more efficient healthcare.
