Government wants a much smaller group with 'fresh' thinking for NPHET's replacement

THE NEW GROUP to replace the National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) set to be announced later this week will be much smaller than the previous. 

It is understood that the Government believes some new “fresh” thinking is required two years into the pandemic. 

The gender balance issue is also something it keenly wants to address given the criticisms of NPHET’s top table being very male-dominated throughout the pandemic.

It is understood the health minister wants to ensure scientists are well represented and that there is a better gender balance among the public-facing parts of the group. 

There is also a view that the group has been dominated by the specialty of public health experts, with a focus now in the phase of the pandemic to include expertise in other areas such as virology, infectious diseases, microbiology, science and epidemiological disease modelling. 

The Sunday Independent reported this week that Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and outgoing Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan are at odds over the make-up of the new Covid advisory group.

It is envisaged that some of the same faces that made up NPHET over the last two years will feature on the new grouping, which will now only have around 14 people on it. NPHET, which was established at the end of January 2020 and disbanded in February 2022 had close to 40 members. 

The new group will advise Government over the medium to long term. 

Fianna Fáil senator Lisa Chambers told The Journal that there needs to be a strong balance on the group. 

“There is no doubt about it, we absolutely need to have a better balance in terms of gender and more diversity,” she said. 

Chambers said that throughout the pandemic she has been very vocal about the treatment of maternity care during the crisis given that she had her own baby during the pandemic. 

“And I do wonder, if there were more female voices at the table, would that issue have been dealt with the way that it was, would it have been handled differently? Would it have been handled better? We can’t be sure, we will never know. But I think it’s quite likely that it would have been handled differently,” she said.

“It’s not that you can’t empathise with something, but if you’ve lived it, and you’ve been through it, it does give you a different perspective,” said Chambers, adding that a different perspective and view around the table is always a plus.

“We approach things in a slightly different way, not better, not worse, but just different. And that’s why, at every level of decision making, it’s not just for when it comes to NPHET, but for every level of government business, you’d love to have that balance,” she said. 

She noted that many studies and research show that you get better policies and better decisions when there is more diversity.

“That’s why we should be endeavoring to do the same thing with this grouping,” she added. 

While she said there will always be a degree of nervousness in setting up a new group like this, given the huge level of responsibility on their shoulders, she is optimistic it will work well. 

“They will be critiqued to a very high level,” she said.

Taking a “glass half full approach” she is not anticipating huge issues albeit perhaps some teething problems.

“I expect it to work well,” said Chambers, stating that mistakes have been learned from the past and how some matters were dealt with. 

“It will give us a chance to do this in a better way, because we’ve had the benefit of time and experience we didn’t have with the last one,” she said.

She said the proof will be in its operation and its composition.