By Caroline O’Regan, Council Member and Hon. Editor, HMI; Executive Development Specialist, RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management.
On July 29, 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Focus Area for Compassion and Ethics (FACE) convened a landmark global webinar: Meeting the Moment: Compassion in Primary Health Care. This event marks a culmination of six years of inquiry into compassion in global health and a turning point for embedding compassion as a cornerstone of primary health care (PHC) systems worldwide; https://www.who.int/news/item/07-02-2025-new-who-document-highlights-the-role-of-compassion-in-primary-health-care and https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240105249
I was honoured to represent Ireland as one of the global “Points of Light” in this dialogue, sharing our national journey and the bold steps we’ve taken to embed compassion into the heart of healthcare leadership and system reform.
When asked “Why Compassion? Why Now?” I shared that my “motivation to bring compassion more fully into my work was rooted in both personal conviction and a strategic understanding of system-wide transformation. “In my role, I’ve come to see compassion not merely as a moral imperative, but as a strategic enabler of sustainable health system reform”. I explained that the WHO’s framing of compassion, as awareness, empathy, and action, resonates deeply with the Irish context, particularly as we implement the Sláintecare reform agenda and vision for primary care. As the largest employer (HSE) in the country, the emotional climate of our health and social care system directly influences the quality, safety, and equity of care. This recognition has driven our commitment to embed compassion at every level of leadership and education and service delivery.
A National Movement with Global Roots
Ireland’s compassionate leadership journey has been shaped by international collaboration. We are proud to be an active member of the Coalition of Compassionate Nations, a global alliance of countries committed to embedding compassion in health systems, convened by Professor Michael West, renowned thought leader and Senior Fellow at The King’s Fund, UK. This coalition is amplifying the global momentum for compassionate leadership and positioning Ireland as a key contributor to this transformative movement.
I also shared that as “A National Movement Rooted in Global Collaboration….Our work in Ireland has been deeply influenced by international thought leadership. The Compassionate Leadership Pledge, developed by Helen Thomas (NHS Wales) and Professor Michael West, has been a foundational tool in our journey to embed compassionate leadership principles across the Irish health system. Over the past four years, we’ve partnered closely with Professor West and NHS Wales to adapt and embed these principles across the Irish health system.
The RCSI. working in partnership and collaboration with the HSE, has facilitated a range of Compassionate Programmes and Compassionate Action Learning, enabling leaders to reflect on real-world challenges through a compassionate, systems-thinking lens. This aligns with WHO’s emphasis on compassion as a driver of equity, resilience, and integrated care.
At RCSI, in collaboration with the HSE, we’ve facilitated Compassionate Leadership Programmes and Compassionate Action Learning, enabling leaders to reflect on real-world challenges through a compassionate, systems-thinking lens. These efforts align with WHO’s emphasis on compassion as a driver of equity, resilience, and integrated care. We’ve also embedded Compassionate Leadership as a core module in education on our postgraduate and executive development programmes nationally and internationally ensuring that compassion is not an optional extra, but a foundational learning outcome for all health professionals.
Ireland’s Impact: Leading by example and working in close collaboration our national impact includes:
- Nine Multidisciplinary Compassionate Executive Leadership Programmes.
- Seven National Clinical Director Compassionate Leadership Programmes.
- The National Clinical Director Conferences on “compassionate cultures.”
- Five Compassionate Action Learning Facilitation Programmes.
We have worked with international organisations and LauraLynn, providing customised programmes for clinical and non-clinical c-suite leaders and multidisciplinary teams to implement compassionate leadership frameworks across various health systems.
In addition, we have witnessed a growing number of Irish organisations; including Irish Home Care, HSE South West, Dublin North City & West, the National Rehabilitation Hospital, LauraLynn, HSE Clinical Director Programme and more have signed the Compassionate Leadership Pledge, signalling a visible and strategic commitment to embedding compassion in leadership, culture, and care delivery.
What We’re Seeing and What We Hope For….In Ireland, we are witnessing tangible, system-level shifts in three key areas:
- Leadership transformation: Compassionate leadership is now a core pillar in the HSE’s Clinical Director and other compassionate Programmes, equipping leaders to foster psychological safety, emotional intelligence, and inclusive, values-based decision-making in taking action and focus on “self-compassion”.
- Cultural alignment with Sláintecare: Compassion is embedded in the HSE Culture Framework, co-developed with Professor West. His research underscores that compassionate cultures lead to better outcomes, higher staff retention, and greater innovation and
- System-wide integration: Initiatives like the Multidisciplinary Team Development Compassionate Leadership series are enabling new, collaborative ways of working that support integrated, person-centred care a cornerstone to both Sláintecare and WHO’s vision for primary care.
I finished by sharing “Looking ahead, we aim to”:
- Position compassion as a system enabler—integrated into policy, workforce development, service design, and performance frameworks rather than being seen as a soft skill or personal trait.
- Foster sustainable staff well-being, ensuring that compassion is extended inward to support resilience and reduce burnout and create thriving, supportive work environments.
- Build a health system that listens deeply, acts justly, and heals holistically, in full alignment with the WHO’s vision of compassion as a transformative force in primary health care.
This is a Global Call to Action, As WHO and FACE bring together exemplars from Sri Lanka, Qatar, Uganda, and Ireland, this webinar is more than a reflection, it’s a call to action. We are part of a growing global movement to rehumanise healthcare, to lead with heart, and to ensure that compassion is not the exception, but the norm.
