Conference: Health Systems in the Era of Austerity
Venue: ESRI, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2
This half-day Conference, jointly organised by the Centre for Health Policy and Management, Trinity College Dublin and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), will take place on Tuesday 18 June at the ESRI.
It is funded by the Health Research Board, through its Knowledge Exchange and Dissemination Scheme (KEDS), and the ESRI/European Observatory.
Aims:
1) To showcase the Observatory Rapid Response report for Ireland and the Resilience project work.
2) To highlight the key findings from the Oslo II Ministerial Conference on Health Systems and the Recession, April 2013.
3) To draw lessons from specific country case studies (Estonia, Spain) for Ireland.
4) To encourage knowledge exchange around cutting budgets, maintaining services and achieving transformation.
The Rapid Response Report, produced by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Health Policies and partners, reviewed the main policy options available to the Irish government in responding to the effects of the financial crisis on the Irish health system. It assessed the response of the Irish health system to budget cuts in recent years and explored future options in light of relevant international evidence drawn from experiences in European and OECD countries facing similar challenges.
The Resilience Project ("Resilience of the Irish Health System: Surviving and utilising the economic contraction") is a three year research programme funded by the HRB, headed by the Centre for Health Policy and Management, TCD, assessing how the Irish health system is performing during the economic crisis. The research is developing guidelines on how the Irish health system might both withstand and benefit from the current economic crisis and providing strategies to strengthen the Irish health system in anticipation of future crises.
The aim of this HRB KEDS (Knowledge Exchange and Dissemination Scheme) funding is to improve health system decision-making by increasing the dialogue around evidence, high quality research and analysis on the performance of the Irish health system in the recession.
Programme
08.30 Registration and Coffee
08.55 Welcome: Professor Miriam Wiley, Economic and Social Research Institute
Session 1: Chair, Professor Charles Normand, TCD
09.00 Key Themes for the Day: Resilience, Performance and Achieving Universal Health Care
Dr Steve Thomas, Associate Professor, Centre for Health Policy and Management, TCD.
09.30 The experience of the Spanish Health System in the Financial Crisis
Prof José R. Repullo, Head of the Academic Department of Health Planning and Economics, Spanish National School of Public Health / Institute for Health Carlos III, Madrid.
10.00 Lessons from the Estonian Health System: Surviving Austerity
Ms Triin Habicht, Head of Department of Health Care, Estonian Health Insurance Fund, Tallinn.
10.30 Coffee Break
Session 2: Chair, Professor Frances Ruane, ESRI
11.00 Reflections on Oslo II: Lessons Learned from Europe
Dr Matt Jowett, Acting Head of Office, WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Strengthening.
11.30 The Observatory Rapid Response for Ireland : Key Findings and Options
Dr Anne Nolan, Research Officer, ESRI and Dr Sarah Thomson, Senior Research Fellow of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Deputy Director of the Observatory’s LSE hub.
12.15 Questions/Discussion
12.45 Closing Words: Department of Health