Department spends over €468,000 on consultants

The most expensive consultation procured by the Department was the development of a response to the Sláintecare Report and the design of a programme of reform and implementation plan by McKinsey & Co Ltd, which cost €220,935.

The next-most expensive item was the Health Service Capacity Review, which was carried out by PA Consulting Services at a cost of €152,372.

PA Consulting Services was also paid €228,559 in 2017 for conducting the review.

A total of €64,270 was paid to the University of Sheffield for a modelling of comparative impacts of minimum unit pricing in alcohol research, according to the figures, which were released to MI following a Freedom of Information request.

Other figures reveal that Milliman Ltd received €9,743 for actuarial, accounting, insurance, and economic advice services; Alpha Healthcare received €9,016 for an independent evaluation of the physician associate pilot in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin; and the Centre for Effective Services received €8,715 for “the development of training and resources in implementation sciences” in relation to clinical practice guidelines.

The records, which covered January to June 2018, also show that the cost of the report on the current and future role of public health specialists, carried out by the consultancy firm Crowe, was €3,690.

At its 2018 AGM, the IMO called for the Department of Health to publish the report and to engage with stakeholders on the implementation of its recommendations without delay.

The report was published at the end of last year.

The figures released also show that the Department spent €1.341 million on external consultants in 2017.

The most costly commission last year was €265,291 to the Health Research Board for the ‘Taskforce on Staffing and Skill Mix Phase 1’.

Another expensive commission included the €114,491 to Hume Brophy for public relations and communications support for the failed European Medicines Agency bid.