Dunne Speaks

What are we going to do about District Health Boards? News this week that the Government is looking at a further bail-out of cash-strapped Boards to help reduce their deficits has raised afresh questions about the sustainability of the current model. At a time when the pressure on financial resources is as taut as ever, it seems simply absurd that a substantial amount of significant additional public health expenditure has to be directed towards reducing historic budget deficits. Therefore, the question must surely be asked whether District Health Boards still provide the appropriate structure to deliver the public health services we expect today. The District Health Boards were a creation of the Labour-led Government of the early 2000s, to replace the appointed Health Funding Authority and the Regional Health Authorities of the National Government of the 1990s, which, in turn, had replaced the elected Area Health Boards of the 1980s Labour Government, that had replaced the ear...