Following many years of getting by, the Irish health services were now moving into a phase of limited, but insufficient, incremental growth and it was important for managers to pause, reflect and see how they might do things differently, HMI President, Lucy Nugent said when she officially opened the 2018 HMI Annual Conference in the RDS last week.
The Conference, titled “Future Health, From Vision To Action,” was held in The Concert Hall of the RDS on November 19, 2018. Its theme was making the vision set out in Sláintecare a reality for service users and providers.
Ms. Nugent, who is also Deputy CEO of Tallaght University Hospital, Dublin, told the packed attendance of senior health managers from all over the country that the Conference would look at the bigger picture and the emerging economic and demographic contest which the national strategy was designed to address. The challenges in establishing a high-level plan for the implementation of the strategy would also be discussed.
The Conference would also examine what needed to be done now and discuss the levers which could be used to make a difference, such as utilising ICT capability and enhancing management practices. A high-level panel would debate the opportunities for a new style of management in a healthcare system focussing on the sometimes-conflicting challenges of greater accountability, openness and transparency and no-fault liability.
Ms. Nugent said the Health Management Institute was the only professional association in Ireland for healthcare managers across all sectors of the health service in the Republic of Ireland.
“HMI was established in 1945. We are a membership organisation and our primary aim is the continuous development of standards of management competence and practice. We advise, inform and network. As health managers, we have many challenges and many of the solutions lie with us,” she said.
“Our annual conference allows us to hear and share the latest thinking and innovative practises from all over Ireland and internationally.
“We also hold a number of networking events through the year which are made possible through the sponsorship of GSK, which is also the main sponsor of this year’s Conference and I would like to thank them and the other sponsors who have supported us today.
“We also run the annual HMI Leaders Awards, which celebrate innovative practise and thinking in our services. These are a fantastic event and personally I don’t think we spend sufficient time celebrating the achievements of the health services.
“I hope you will all enjoy and benefit from today’s conference and the networking opportunities which it also provides.”
