Each Health Region will have responsibility for the planning and coordinated delivery of joined-up health and social care services. Among the objectives of moving to this new organisational structure are to:

• Ensure the health and social care system is directed more towards providing care for people closer to home;
• Facilitate more integrated care for patients; and
• Enable a coherent population-based approach to service planning and delivery, where care is planned and funded in line with people’s needs at regional and local level.

Existing Hospital Groups and Community Healthcare Organisations (CHOs) are already meeting in regional pods that are reflective of the Health Region structures. Health Regions will commence operation from February 2024, and further reforms and devolution of authority will take place on a phased basis through 2024 and 2025.

Each Health Region will be headed up by a Regional Executive Officer (REO), who will be the accountable officer at Health Region level, and will report directly to the HSE CEO. Recruitment for REOs has been approved, and they will be advertised shortly. REO salaries are linked to the pay under the new public only hospital consultant contract and will be up to €257,000.