Yearly Archives: 2013

Thank you and well done!

Reverting to the 2006 level of funding for the health services in 2014 is bound to have profound consequences, writes Denis Doherty.

New CEO of Mater Northern Ireland joins EAHM Chief Nursing Officer Department of Health Chairs of new hospital groups New cardiology centre for Crumlin Programme Director for Paediatric Hospital European Association of Hospital Managers developing new working model

Health managers are seriously concerned about the service implications of the latest HSE exit package which they say is clouded in confusion and has a completely unacceptable timescale which will not enable them to prepare contingency plans to ensure continuity of services. Maureen Browne reports.

The paradigm of care needs to be changed to adopt methodologies appropriate to the needs of the population and to improve patient experience, if we are to maintain and improve quality while taking out cost, write Dr. Peter Lachman, Lead International Faculty RCPI, and Paul Rafferty, Quality Improvement & Organisational Consultant.

The new hospital groups could utilise an Academic Healthcare Centre (AHC) model to provide overarching governance structures for the relationship between hospitals within the groups and their relationship to their primary academic partners, Prof. John R. Higgins, former Chair of the Strategic Board for the Establishment of Hospital Groups, told a meeting of the HMI South Region in the South Infirmary/Victoria University Hospital, Cork. Maureen Browne reports.

Lucy Nugent writes about the foundation and objectives of the first dedicated international group to represent healthcare managers.

In HIQA we recognise that the regulation of residential and residential respite services for children and adults with disabilities provided by the HSE, private organisations or voluntary bodies will present challenges for providers and managers, writes Phelim Quinn.

Revised national guidelines on the economic evaluation and budget impact analysis of health technologies have been launched for consultation by the Health Information and Quality Authority.

Mark Solon suggests that health managers can be proactive in making their own retirement arrangements – whether through additional voluntary pension provision, savings and investments - or by adjusting their expectations of when they plan to retire and the type of retirement they want to have.

Breakthrough is a new addition to the suite of accredited training programmes provided by HMI for frontline and middle managers across all types of health service organisations, writes Karen Maher.

Health managers may be interested in these events.

Health Management Institute President, Mr. Derek Greene said the HMI’s ambition was to be active and influential in every healthcare institution in the country, when he spoke at the opening of the Institute’s 3rd Annual Conference in the Gresham Hotel, Dublin on Monday, October 7.

Department of Health Secretary General, Dr. Ambrose McLoughlin appealed to all health managers present to commit to achieving a tobacco free Ireland as soon as possible, when he performed the official opening of the 3rd HMI Annual Conference.

Patient experience is now the biggest driver for healthcare, Prof. Dame Donna Kinnair. Clinical Director, Emergency Medicine, BHRUT Hospital (Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust) told the Conference.

His priority was to implement a common integrated financial management system across the HSE, Mr. Tom Byrne, Chief Financial Officer of the HSE told the Conference.

It was important that in looking at the health services, we should ground ourselves and recognise the central theme that although care costs, poor quality care costs more and patient safety was paramount in the health services, Mr. Tony O’Brien, Director General of the HSE told the Conference.

We must identify and develop a pool of potential successors for senior management roles and we need to invest in our people to ensure they are equipped to implement the large scale change required to manage the transition in structures and services following the dissolution of the HSE, Mr. Bill Maher, Group Chief Executive, West/North West Hospital Group told the Conference.

A Health Service Journal Leadership survey had shown that while safety and reducing harm and delivering integrated care were stated priorities, 50 per cent of respondents were not confident that a Mid Staffs type event would not happen, Ms. Shirley Cramer, CBE. Chief Executive, Institute of Healthcare Management and the Royal Society for Public Health told the Conference.

Science Foundation Ireland has an annual budget of €150 million and provides a research ‘engine’ of 3,000 people, led by 500 leading scientists, Prof. Mark Ferguson, SFI Director General, and Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish Government told the Conference.