1094. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health to provide a detailed timeline for the initiation, progress, and finalisation by his Department of the Steering Group for the National Review of Specialist Cardiac Services. [44282/24]

The National Review of Cardiac Services (NRCS) was commissioned in 2017, and a memo was prepared for the Minister detailing a panel of nominees to chair the NRCS. The NRCS commenced in January 2018 under the Chairmanship of Professor Phillip Nolan and a steering group formed from nominations of interested stakeholders. The steering group firstly undertook the formulation of the principles of the NRCS and the terms of reference.  Substantial progress was made on the NRCS, and several elements of the project plan were defined prior to the impact of COVID-19 in late 2019.

In late 2019, the COVID-19 Pandemic impacted the NRCS. The steering group reconvened on the 20th of September 2021 and met with a view to finalisation of the NRCS. The initial data was updated at that point. The steering group held their final meeting in October 2022 and NRCS Report was finalised in 2023.  The Chair of the steering group met with Minister Donnelly in November 2023. The Minister also received advice from the CMO on the need to develop a holistic approach to developing cardiac services.

The Minister identified several current priority areas for the development of cardiovascular services while progressing the NRCS to Government. The Minister sought to secure funding through Budget 2025 before progressing a memo for Government. Funding was secured in Budget 2025 to progress cardiovascular services, noting the requirement for data-driven service improvement and a need to situate the NRCS within a wider context to include prevention and rehabilitation as well as hospital-based and integrated care to deliver a wider systems approach to cardiac care.  The Minister will present the NRCS to Government for further consideration at the earliest opportunity recognising that the Report, when published will provide the foundations for the development of a significant new national Cardiovascular Strategy, noting that this will take time to develop and will require iterative reform to ensure effectiveness and sustainability.