Yearly Archives: 2015

HMI President, Mr. Derek Greene said he was delighted to see so many people at this, the fifth HMI national Conference - those who had been at previous conferences and those who were attending for the first time. He extended a particular welcome to HSE Director General, Mr. Tony O’Brien and Health Minister, Dr. Leo Varadkar, as he officially opened the packed Conference in the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin.

Future projections showed that health spending was likely to continue to grow as a share of the economy and would pose major fiscal sustainability challenges to governments unless action was taken, Dr. Chris James, Health Policy Analyst OECD, told the Conference.

Health Minister, Dr. Leo Varadkar asked managers to establish patients’ and residents’ councils where they did not already exist, when he addressed the Conference.

Ms. Rosarii Mannion the new HSE National Director Human Resources, told the Conference that she firmly believed that if we got things right for our staff we would get them right for our patients.

A new paperless clinic in Cork University Hospital and an eprescription scheme - e Script Faster, Safer, Easier- which would enable patients to get their GP prescriptions faster were two recent innovations which had been successfully trialled by the Health Innovation Hub, Dr. Colman Casey, Administrative Director for Research and Industrial Liaison, College of Medicine and Health UCC, Interim Director Cork Science and Innovation Park and Interim Director Demonstrator, Health Innovation Hub told the Conference.

The role of the Board of Directors at the Mater Hospital, Dublin in overseeing and contributing to the improvement of the quality of care provided at the critical front line had been enhanced as a result of a new governance programme which had been introduced, Prof. Mary Day, Group CEO, Ireland East Hospital Group told the Conference.

Health Managers were advised not to cut corners or cross the line of a safe service, by Mr. David Flory, retired Chief Executive NHS Trust Development Authority, when he addressed the Conference.

There were seven priority areas for the new Community Health Organisations (CHOs), Ms. Martina Queally, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare Organisation Dublin South East/Wicklow, told the Conference.

GSK was introducing a new initiative which she thought would be viewed in time as a very critical step in building and maintaining a high level of patient trust in the medical profession that the patient was at the centre of all decisions, Ms Eimear Caslin, Commercial Director in GSK pharmaceutical business, told the Conference.

The HMI Leaders Award had now celebrated two years of outstanding achievement by health managers, HMI Council Member and Chief Executive of the Hermitage Medical Clinic, Mr. Eamonn Fitzgerald told the Conference.

The new Department of Health policies, priorities and practices which, he said, would play an important part in shaping the development of the services in the coming 12 months, were spelled out to the Conference by Mr. Jim Breslin, Secretary General, Department of Health.

We could not continue to do things the way we had been, we needed to think about different clinical and financial models and how we planned our workforce within these models, Dr. Aine Carroll, HSE National Director, Clinical Strategy and Programmes Division, told the Conference.

Technology is a game changer and he thought connected health could deliver prompt and appropriate treatment of seriously ill patients in hospital and their return to their home as soon as possible, Prof. Seamas Donnelly, Chair of Clinical Medicine, Tallaght Hospital and Trinity College, Dublin, told the Conference.

The main message that came back to him from patients was the importance of the way they were treated, the way they were heard and the way staff related to them and their families, Mr. Liam Woods, Interim HSE National Director of Acute Services told the Conference.

Conference Chairs and Panellists were HMI President, Mr. Derek Greene, Ms. Mo Flynn, Group Chief Executive, Rehab Group, Ms. Kathleen O’Meara, Head of Advocacy and Communications, Irish Cancer Society and Mr. Gerry O’Neill, Chief Officer, Dublin North, Dublin North Central, Dublin North West Community Health Organisation.

Let’s invest in people development

Health Minister, Dr. Leo Varadkar is among leading Irish and overseas healthcare leaders who will examine the future direction and governance of the Irish health services at the HMI National Conference which will be held in the Concert Hall in the RDS Dublin on Wednesday, September 30 next, writes Maureen Browne.

Last year saw the commencement of the HMI Leaders Award and I am delighted to confirm that this year sees the continuation of this very important innovation leadership award with over 100 applications coming from all regions of the country, writes Eamonn Fitzgerald, Chair Judging Panel.

The Better Health, Better Living project, one of the regional winners in the HMI Leaders Award, is the implementation of the Chronic Disease Self Management Programme (CDSMP) at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, in co-operation with multiple patient organisations and HSE stakeholders, writes Ms. Marese Heffernan, Co-ordinator of the project.

Dietician Niamh Smyth, a recent regional winner at the HMI Regional Awards, outlines how she, along with a team involving dietetics, pharmacy, facilities, nursing and the ICT department, introduced an Electronic Ordering System for Enteral Tube Feeding Products.