Law professor joins expert group reviewing voluntary hospitals

A law professor at University College Cork (UCC) has been appointed to a review group established to examine the role of voluntary organisations in publicly funded health services.

Professor Deirdre Madden was appointed by Health Minister Simon Harris to the group set up following controversy over the ownership and governance of the new €300 million national maternity hospital.

The group will be chaired by Dr Catherine Day, former secretary-general of the European Commission, and also includes Professor Jane Grimson, a former acting CEO, former director of health information at HIQA, and pro-chancellor at TCD.

The three-person group has been asked to examine and inquire into the current role and status of voluntary organisations in the operation of health and personal social services in Ireland, including religious and faith-based organisations, the strengths and weaknesses of this mode of service provision, the issues which arise in connection with the provision of services to the public through such organisations, and to make recommendations on how the relationship between the State and voluntary organisations in the arena of health and personal social services should evolve in the future.

The group is expected to report back within a year.

Mr Harris said: “The establishment of this review group will provide the space for an inclusive and respectful process of consideration and inform the development of policy over the medium term.

“I am very grateful to the distinguished members of the group for taking on this important and historic task.”