Home > Sláintecare Regional Health Areas (RHAs).

[Department of Health] Sláintecare Regional Health Areas (RHAs). (09 Feb 2022)

External website: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/4eda4-slaintecar...


The six new Regional Health Areas (RHAs) are in line with recommendations made in the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare Sláintecare Report (2017), that regional bodies should be responsible for the planning and delivery of integrated health and social care services. Integrated care is where services, funding, and governance are co-ordinated around the needs of the patient, encompassing both acute and community care.

RHAs will ensure the geographical alignment of hospital and community healthcare services at a regional level, based on defined populations and their local needs. This is key to delivering on the Sláintecare vision of an integrated health and social care service. As well as enabling the integration of community and acute care, RHAs aim to empower local decision-making and support population-based service planning. This will ultimately strengthen our health service and lead to improved patient experience as well as access to healthcare closer to home.

Regional Health Areas: a case for change

Regional Health Areas (RHAs) recognise the value of geographical alignment for population-based resource allocation and governance to enable integrated care. There are currently nine Community Health Organisations (CHOs) and six Hospital Groups (HGs) plus Children’s Health Ireland. As these do not align geographically nor overlap in terms of geographies, management, clinical oversight, or budgets for defined populations, this significantly hinders the delivery of integrated care.

Vision of the Regional Health Areas

Regional Health Areas (RHAs) aim to facilitate comprehensive integrated, person-led, community-first health and social care through the alignment of acute and community-based services. RHAs will enable an alignment of services where:

  • patients and staff feel safe, supported, and well-informed at all points in their care journey;
  • care is provided as close to home as possible; and
  • health and social care services are planned and funded around the needs of the population.

RHAs involve the full alignment and better integration of health and social care services within each specific region. This is a key component of how the HSE will organise and deliver integrated health and social care services into the future. The objectives of RHA implementation are aligned with Sláintecare’s overall aims and objectives and are intended to:

  • increase the integration of community and acute services;
  • introduce a population-based approach to service planning;
  • improve clinical governance; and
  • improve corporate governance and accountability.
Geographies of the Regional Health Areas

The geographies of the six Regional Health Areas are based on population data including how people currently access health services and how disruption to patients could be minimised, as well as a public consultation . A Government decision approved the RHA geographies in July 2019, a map of which can be found here.

Further information can be found in the press release.

The Regional Health Areas Advisory Group provides guidance, support, and advice on the design and development of a clear implementation plan for Regional Health Areas (RHAs) to the Department of Health and HSE officials charged with implementing this work programme under Sláintecare.

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