HIQA Analysis!

A new study says there is not enough current evidence to show that e-cigarettes are an effective aid to help people stop smoking.
The Health Information and Quality Authority has published the first analysis comparing the cost-effectiveness of various smoking cessation interventions.

Almost one in three people use e-cigarettes, to help

cease smoking

The cost to the healthcare system of smoking is about €460m a year.
There are around 820,000 smokers in Ireland, with half making at least one quit attempt each year.
Almost one in three people use e-cigarettes to try to stop smoking.
HIQA’s study says that while early evidence for e-cigarettes is promising, the Minister for Health should await the results of on-going  trials before recommending them as a smoking cessation method.
The health watchdog says that the most effective intervention is the prescription only drug Varenicline, either alone, or alongside nicotine replacement therapy.
Furthermore, it recommends that the HSE increase the uptake of the drug.

Nurses - Registration!

The Nursing and Midwifery Board has removed 2,258 nurses and midwives from the register, for not paying their annual registration fee.

The €100 fee is paid to stay on the register and once removed, it is an offence to practice nursing or midwifery.


                           

Nurses can reapply to be registered and pay the fee

 

The Board says it made the decision on 21 March in relation to the 2,258 nurses, and midwives after renewal and reminder notices were sent to the nurses concerned, and the fee was not paid.
The Minister for Health, Health Service Executive, known employers and the nurses and midwives have been notified in writing of the removals from the register.

Transplants Have Increased!

The Irish Kidney Association has reported an increase in transplants with 298 performed on Irish patients last year. 
The figures represent a 12% rise on the 266 transplants performed in 2015.

Around 600 people are awaiting life-saving heart, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants.
The association today launched organ donor awareness week, which starts next Saturday.
280 of the transplants were performed in Ireland and a further 11 paediatric organ transplants and 7 living donor transplants were performed on Irish patients who travelled to the UK, with the Health Service Executive funding the operations.
Irish Kidney Association Chief Executive, Mark Murphy called for an organ donor registry to be set up, in line with the HSE consent policy, to help increase deceased donations.
The IKA said there are now many ways for people to show willingness for organ donation, such as by carrying the organ donor card, downloading the Smartphone App, or allowing Code 115 to be included on a person's driving licence.

280 of the 298 transplants for Irish patients were performed in Ireland

Living kidney donor and RTÉ broadcaster Vivienne Traynor, is continuing in her voluntary role as an ambassador for Organ Donor Awareness Week.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Simon Harris says he has prioritised the development of legislation to provide for an opt-out system of consent for organ donation.
Mr. Harris is planning to bring a memo to Government shortly setting out this policy direction.
He said he will also launch a public consultation on the development of the proposals before the end of the summer.
Under an opt out system, people would be regarded as having consented to organ donation after death, unless they specified otherwise.

Management Layers - HSE

The Health Service Executive should be a slimmed-down body "more equipped to lead than to directly control" and "with less management layers between the top and the front line", the Minister for Health has said.

Simon Harris outlined his vision for a less bureaucratic HSE at this morning's meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare.
During his opening address on the future direction of health policy, Mr Harris said: "Over the next decade we need to get past the stage of constant fire-fighting to a place where we can have a mature debate about how to set priorities and where to develop our services."
Mr Harris also said he hopes political consensus can be agreed on the forthcoming report of the committee.

He said: "Subject to the committee's report, I intend to ask my department to come forward with proposals to improve governance arrangements for the HSE for so long as the HSE continues in its current form.
"This will include examination of the current vesting of governing authority in the HSE Directorate, including the fact that the director general is responsible to the directorate for the performance of his or her functions."
However he stressed his desire for a slimmed-down HSE body.
He said: "We have gained much in recent years through national initiatives in areas such as the cancer programme, the integrated care programmes, the Fair Deal scheme and many other areas.  We need to retain such capability and avoid reverting to stand-alone geographically based organisations in the mould of the health boards.
"However, the national health capability which takes the place of the HSE is likely to be a slimmed-down body; one more equipped to lead than to directly control and, accordingly, with less management layers between the top and the front line."



Mr Harris told the committee that the current system that financially incentivises hospital consultants to treat private patients instead of public patients is "perverse" and measures need to be taken quickly to change it.
He was responding to a question from committee chair Róisín Shorthall, who asked about the provision of private care in public hospitals.
Earlier, in his opening address to the committee, the minister suggested that hospital consultants' should no longer be paid through individual "fee-for-service payments" for treating patients. Instead they should be paid for treating private patients as part of their annual salary, he said.

Treatment of Diabetes

Independent TD Thomas Pringle told the Dáil that €800 million could be saved on the treatment of diabetes, if patients had access to insulin pumps.

He said there are 666 patients in County Donegal with Type 1 diabetes, but only 20 have access to insulin pumps and that €1.3bn a year was spent on treating diabetes with €800 million on treating complications.
The Tánaiste said she would ask the Minister for Health to liaise directly with Mr. Pringle regarding the situation in County Donegal and added that additional funding had been given to primary care centres, for specialist interventions in diabetes.

Alpha One Disappointed

A campaign group for patients with genetic emphysema have said they are hugely disappointed at the decision of Minister for Health Simon Harris not to fund a drug to treat the condition.

Seventeen patients in the Republic of Ireland have been on the drug Respreeza for about ten years, under a compassionate-use programme, supported by the makers CSL Behring.
The compassionate use programme was supported by the company in the hope of HSE approval to fund the drug generally.
However, Mr Harris and the Health Service Executive told the Oireachtas Health Committee today that the State will not fund the drug for clinical reasons.

Simon Harris told an Oireachtas committee the

drug would not be funded for clinical reasons

A recent study for the HSE also said it would not be cost-effective at over €100,000 a patient a year.
This evening, the Alpha One Foundation, which represents patients, said it was hugely disappointed.
It said the drug is the only therapy to have been shown to slow the progression of the disease and has been approved by the European Medicines Agency and is available to patients in eight European countries.
It said patients are devastated at the decision and if it is let stand, it is likely to have a detrimental impact on their future health.
The compassionate-use programme was due to end next Tuesday but today the company has told patients it will be extended for two more months, to allow for further talks between the company and the State on HSE funding.
The Alpha One Foundation is to meet with the HSE tomorrow to discuss the issue.
The Department of Health said the operation of compassionate access schemes, are at the discretion of drug manufacturers.
It said any attempt by a manufacturer to link continued access for patients already being treated with a new drug with decisions under the statutory HSE funding process would, in the minister's view, be inappropriate and unethical.

Sleep Disorders - SOUND

A campaign group representing people with the sleeping disorder narcolepsy, who believe the illness was caused as a result of the human swine flu vaccine has criticised a delay in opening a national centre for the illness for adults, planned for St James's Hospital, Dublin

There are 80 reports of people vaccinated with the

drug Pandemrix, being diagnosed with narcolepsy

SOUND represents around 80 people who have the condition and who got the drug Pandemrix, under the national pandemic vaccination scheme in late 2009 and 2010.

The organisation said today that it had worked hard to ensure that the case for funding the €1.6m centre at St James's was clear and the families are very disappointed it will not be fully operational this year.
The Health Service Executive says no funding was allocated in its national service plan for 2017 for the adult service at St James's.
It says that "where extra resources are made available", the HSE along with St James's will proceed to develop the adult service.
The HSE says that a proposal will be included in the estimates for 2018 and planning for this will start in early June.

An Irish study found a 13-fold higher risk of narcolepsy in children or adolescents given the pandemic vaccine compared with unvaccinated people.
To date, health authorities in Ireland have received 81 reports, with clinical information, confirming a diagnosis of narcolepsy, in individuals vaccinated against the H1N1 virus.
There are 80 reports relating to those vaccinated with the drug Pandemrix and one case relating to vaccination with the drug Celvapan.
The State has not conceded a direct legal link between those vaccinated and the development of narcolepsy.
But ex-gratia health supports and discretionary medical cards have been provided for those affected.

Minister for Health, Simon Harris has said that work is under way on the proposed centre at St James's, which will cater for all people diagnosed with narcolepsy, including those diagnosed after receiving pandemic influenza vaccine.
Mr Harris said that he looks forward to meeting with the SOUND group in the coming weeks.
He said that total funding of €231,972 was provided over the past two years for narcolepsy and related sleep disorders at St James's Hospital.
The funding has been utilised to support a narcolepsy advanced nurse practitioner, consultant sessions, and research and sleep studies.

Accommodation Allowance Restored

Potential strike action by 4,500 non-consultant hospital doctors has been averted after agreement was reached on the restoration of a €3,193 accommodation allowance which had been abolished in 2012.
Doctors had gone to the High Court to seek restoration of the allowance, and had they won, it was estimated that it would have cost the HSE up to €120 million, when back money and interest were factored in.



The case was due to be heard in the High Court today.
They had also threatened to ballot for industrial action.
The settlement will see the €3,193 allowance restored from 1 July, but with no back money.
The allowance will be worth €61.20 per week for around 4,500 NCHDs, and the total deal will cost €6m this year.
In a full year it will add €13m to the annual public service pay bill.

This comes on top of an extra €50 million for Garda pay, and €120 million for accelerated pay rises for other public servants earning below €65,000 a year.
The Government has pledged to fund the pay overruns from efficiencies and savings.
Informed sources said this deal means a smaller bill with no back money than would have arisen had the HSE lost the case - and also avoids the risk of industrial action.
The Department of Health and the HSE have also agreed to establish a new process for educational supports for non-consultant hospital doctors, under the auspices of the Workplace Relations Commission as part of the deal.
The HSE is still facing major disruption next month as nurses belonging to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation are due to commence an indefinite work to rule on 7 March in a dispute over recruitment, retention and staffing levels.
Industrial action by around 10,000 health support staff belonging to SIPTU is also due to get under way on the same date.
Both management and unions acknowledge that the industrial action will result in longer waiting lists and more patients on trolleys.

Rehabilitation Time Limited!

An audit of services for stroke patients by the Health Service Executive has found that 73% of hospitals are unable to provide adequate levels of rehabilitation therapy to those who need it.

The audit, which was conducted in conjunction with the Irish Heart Foundation, shows major nursing, medical and therapy staff deficits in stroke rehabilitation centres.
The incidence of stroke is rising by about 350 cases every year – a rise attributed to the ageing population.
This audit of 26 out of 29 rehabilitation units was carried out to examine the adequacy of services for patients after their initial period of treatment.
It found major deficiencies in vital recovery services for stroke patients, including a lack of nursing staff, medical professionals and psychologists.
It also found that 73% of hospitals were unable to provide recommended levels of therapy.
The HSE's clinical lead for stroke, Professor Joe Harbison, said the health service would probably need around 250 extra therapists for the adequate treatment of stroke.
Almost two thirds of facilities surveyed did not have a stroke specialist.
The vast majority of the hospitals also had no access to community rehab teams to continue essential therapy for patients after they are discharged home.
The audit team recommends a major investment to provide more beds, healthcare professionals, therapists and community teams to deal with the deficiencies highlighted.



Prof. Harbison said a person's chance of recovering from stroke is "dependent on the skills of the people" who are in the hospital where they being treated.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said this may "depend a little bit on geography, on where your access to specialist rehabilitation services are".
He said these services can also be dependent on age as "a lot of the rehabilitation services in Ireland are run through elderly care services".
In the case of 50% of the units, if "you're under 50, you can't get into the unit" and he said these people are "often left waiting maybe months to get into the National Rehabilitation hospital".
Prof. Harbison said when people have had their initial treatment for stroke, they are moved onto a rehabilitation centre but that's "very often non specific for stroke".
He said there may be certain skills lacking in this centre - while they may get physiotherapy and occupational therapy, they may not get specialist therapy and are unlikely to get the duration of the therapy they need.
He added that they may not get other therapies such as psychology at all, as only one third of the hospitals have any access to psychology services.
Claiming that access to rehabilitation services and sufficient rehabilitation staff is a long-standing problem, Prof. Harbison said rehabilitation should happen in the
first 24 hours of stroke.

HSE - Staff and Pay Concerns

Major tensions between the Department of Health and the HSE over the agency's management of pay and staff levels have been revealed in documents released to RTÉ News, under the Freedom of Information Act.

The Health Service Executive has been warned that the staff recruitment moratorium may be re-instated, if the executive breaches a new 2016 Pay and Staffing Agreement.
That agreement reached in July, also released under the FoI request, says that the HSE cannot exceed a ceiling of 106,396 staff by the end of this year - an increase of 2,500 staff on last December's level.
On 2 June, the Department of Health expressed its "very serious concern at the faillure of the HSE to submit a complete Pay and Numbers Strategy in a timely fashion", while recruitment continued without sanction.
It also reveals that the HSE was undertaking a 'look-back', to see if hospital groups and individual hospitals had funded extra posts, contrary to procedures.

Dept of Health concern
On 14 April, Secretary General of the Department of Health Jim Breslin, wrote to Director General of the HSE Tony O' Brien to raise matters of particular concern on outstanding management and reporting requirements.
The partially-redacted letter, criticises the HSE for failing to complete workforce plans in time.
It says that HSE employment levels increased by 611 in February, with an increase of 5,445 since December 2014, "following an exceptional level of recruitment throughout last year".
It notes that the figures show an increase in overtime and absence rates, with only a very modest reduction in agency spending.

The Health Service Executive has been warned that

the staff recruitment moratorium may be re-instated

HSE response
In his response to Mr Breslin on 22 April, Mr. O' Brien said the HSE service plan for this year had identified a potential deficit for acute hospitals of €225m and further financial risks were flagged in other areas.
He said the HSE had undertaken substantial work to produce a 2016 Pay and Numbers Strategy, for all of its divisions.
Mr O' Brien warned that the main challenge was that the financial allocation for 2016 did not fully fund the level of staff employed and agency and overtime costs in place at the end of 2015.
He said there was a significant and sustained increase in the number of people presenting at hospital Emergency Departments "which puts upward pressure on pay".
There was an emerging challenge to "curtail homecare services" in line with the service plan funding.
The letter goes on to state: "2015 was also a year in which a regulatory report pointed to significant managerial accountability for past failure to provide for safe staffing levels in certain hospital services, despite the prevailing employment moratoria and funding reductions which were a feature of that time".





Pay and Staffing Ceiling Set
The HSE's Pay and Numbers strategy was finally approved in July, by Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe and sets binding pay and staffing levels on the HSE for this year. The staff ceiling is 106,396.
Under the agreement, the Department of Health is responsible for ensuring the HSE does not break that ceiling.
The document warns that in the event the HSE's pay bill deviates significantly, such that an overrun is considered likely, the staffing moratorium may be reinstated.
The 'Staffing Resource Management Framework/Delegated Sanction for the Department of Health' says the HSE must operate within the 2016 ceiling and that where a post is to be filled, it is expected that the HSE will seek to fill it at the lowest possible grade and ensure appointments are at the minimum of the scale.
In June, the Government agreed an extra allocation of around €500m, to mainly deal with the HSE's projected budget overrun for this year.

Obesity - Ticking Time Bomb!

Ireland risks becoming the fattest nation in the world, unless it deals with the obesity crisis in the same way it tackled smoking, Minister for Health, Simon Harris has warned

 

Obesity is a “ticking time bomb” that has to some extent already “detonated”, Mr. Harris said at the launch of the Government’s policy and plan on the issue.

National eating guidelines, calorie posting legislation and the prioritisation of obesity services within the HSE form part of the plan, which will be implemented over the next decade.

A clinical lead to guide obesity policy within the health service will be appointed and a “whole of school” approach to healthy lifestyles is promised in collaboration with the Department of Education.

 

Compromise

The current plan contains specific targets and timelines and the appetite for tackling obesity is much greater, he said. While he was not happy the sugar tax was not being introduced quickly, he recognised the need for compromise.

Professor Donal O’Shea said there were 300 people waiting for weight-reducing surgery in his clinic in Loughlinstown and 150 in a clinic at Galway.

Mr. Harris said there was no question of the plan having been watered down to suit the food industry. The Government was not ruling out legislation in the area, but wanted to begin with a collaborative approach. Legislation requiring restaurants to post the calorie content of meals will be law by the end of next year, his officials confirmed.

Minister of State for Health Promotion, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy said the new document was a plan with specific timelines and “not designed to sit on the shelf”.

 

The plan supports the introduction of a sugar levy to cut consumption of sweetened drinks. It is expected the Department of Finance, which has rejected such a measure in the past two years, will in next month’s budget give the go-ahead for a levy from 2018.

The plan on obesity proposes the development of a policy on nutrition, and work with the food industry on a voluntary code of practice for food advertising, promotion and marketing. Agreement will be sought with the industry on reformulating food to make it more healthy.

 

Portion Sizes

The introduction of maximum portion sizes for “relevant” foods and drink will be considered, on a voluntary basis initially. Drinkable water will be provided in all centres of learning, and guidelines on reducing the “obese-ogenic environment” will be developed for use in urban development.

Some 60 per cent of Irish adults, and one in four children, are overweight or obese. The cost to society is estimated at more than €1 billion a year. One of the State’s foremost obesity experts, Professor Donal O’Shea, said the plan “could not be more different” from the 2006 report of the national obesity taskforce, on which he served. “That plan was dead in the water within the year and we weren’t even allowed hold a meeting to discuss it.”

 

 

 

 

 

'#hellomynameis campaign' for more compassionate care

Nurses, doctors and other HSE staff – particularly frontline staff - are being asked to tell their patients their name, as part of the #hellomynameis campaign for more compassionate care.  #hellomynameis was started by Dr Kate Granger in the UK after she became frustrated with the number of staff who failed to introduce themselves to her when she was an inpatient with post-operative sepsis.

Kate has terminal cancer but continues to work as an elderly medicine registrar. Since leaving hospital, she has started a campaign on Twitter and on her own website asking staff to make a pledge to introduce themselves in future to their patients. The #hellomynameis campaign is being supported by the HSE as part of the Quality Improvement Division’s patient engagement strategy and is included in the division’s operational plan for 2016.

Staff can greatly enhance or negatively affect patient experiences of HSE services. Simple things like introducing yourself can put patients at ease and positively influence their experiences of the Irish healthcare system. Patient engagement and compassion need to be at the centre of the Irish healthcare services and built into everything we do.

This page aims to encourage and support staff to engage with the #hellomynameis  movement and to put patient engagement and compassion at the heart of our healthcare services.

The resources below will help to get you started.

•  Visit Kate’s website  http://hellomynameis.org.uk/ for lots of resources and information, where you can: 

• Download and print off your own #hellomynameis badges 
• Download and print off your own #hellomynameis placard – take a photo or selfie and use social media  to spread the word 
• Download a #hellomynameis icon for your email signature
• Read the #hellomynameis feature in the Spring 2016 edition of Health Matters
• Watch Kate Granger’s presentation to an Irish audience at the HSE Communications Masterclass 
• Watch Kate Granger’s interview recorded at the HSE Communications Masterclass 

For more information about how you can start a #hellomynameis movement in your workplace, email the QID Division at opse@hse.ie 

View on HSE website here

Zika virus in Ireland 'not unexpected' - HSE

The Health Service Executive has said that the diagnosis of the first case of the Zika virus in Ireland is not unexpected, as many other European countries have reported infections. 

The HSE says the two unrelated cases involved a man and a woman who had travelled to a Zika-affected country in the first four to five months.

Both have recovered. 

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland the Assistant National Director of Health Protection at the HSE said both adults returned to Ireland with a mild illness but there was no initial suspicion that it was Zika until people became more aware.

Dr Kevin Kelleher said 75-80% of people do not know they have it and that it is like a very mild cold or flu type illness.

Dr Kelleher, said the reason it has become a major potential problem is not the disease itself but the effect it appears to have on the unborn baby if the pregnant mother gets it.

He said they have become aware of this because it has moved from Africa and South East Asia to the South Americas where a large number of people have never been exposed to it.

He said the likelihood is that no-one needs hospital treatment as a consequence of this disease.

He urged women who are pregnant or who want to get pregnant to decide if their need to travel to these areas is essential.

View more on WHO - Zika virus

Research into best models of palliative care

The project is one of two new projects that will look at how to best organise and deliver healthcare services in palliative care and epilepsy.

‘Each of these projects aims to provide solid evidence that will support the development of the best models of care in their respective areas’, says Graham Love, the Chief Executive of the HRB.  ‘Over the past few years, the HRB, HSE and Royal College of Physicians in Ireland have made a focussed, coordinated effort to increase the level of funding available for quality and patient safety research that addresses knowledge gaps of national priority. These two projects are the latest ones to come through that process’.  

According to Professor Charles Normand, Trinity College Dublin, who will be conducting detailed research into what are the best models of palliative care in an Irish context; 

‘We do not know enough about the extent to which better provision of palliative care takes pressure off other health and social care. Nor do we know enough about the effects of different models of palliative care on the burden on families and informal care givers.  There are a lot of important and as yet unanswered questions regarding the strengths and weaknesses of different models of care, the extent to which those that cost more achieve more, and the differences in experiences and outcomes.'

 Dr Mary Fitzsimons, from Beaumont Hospital will lead the project on patient-centred epilepsy care.

These latest awards will join two ongoing projects in Emergency medicine and Rheumatology care that have been funded under this partnership scheme, the RCQPS (the Research Collaboration on Quality andPatient Safety). To date over €1.5 million has been committed to research under this specific scheme.  

View more here

Number of Influenza Cases - HSE

People in at risk groups are being urged to get the flu vaccine

The Health Service Executive has said that the influenza vaccine given to people this year is for a different strain of flu than what is expected.

Speaking at the Oireachtas Health Committee recently, the Director General of the HSE, Tony O'Brien, said we are seeing a "first spike" in flu cases and are on particular alert for a period of about eight weeks.

The HSE's latest flu surveillance shows that rates have increased for the first time this season, but the levels are still low.

Three deaths associated with influenza have been reported so far this season.
People in at risk groups such as those over 65 and children with chronic illnesses are being urged to get the vaccine.

Symptoms of flu usually develop over a number of hours, and include a high temperature, sore throat and a dry cough.

The HSE says the vaccine is available free of charge from GPs for all people in at risk groups, and from pharmacists for everyone aged 65 and over.

Patient Safety and Antibiotics - Advice

The Health Service Executive is warning that new bugs are emerging that are multi-resistant. People are being advised to avoid taking antibiotics for a flu or cold, as the HSE says they will get better.
A new website called undertheweather.ie has been set up to give advice on how to treat viral infections.

People are being advised to avoid taking antibiotics for a flu or cold

The HSE says rest, fluid and paracetamol is all people need to get over many of these illnesses.
Dr Philip Crowley, HSE National Director for Quality and Patient Safety, said: "Undertheweather.ie is part of our on-going work to tackle the global threat of overuse of antibiotics, and the fact that antibiotics are becoming less and less effective.

"The common conditions included in the site are almost always caused by a virus, so an antibiotic is useless in dealing with these illnesses, Mr. Crowley said.
"We want to support people to know what to do when they are unwell, and when to get advice from a health professional, but also that antibiotics are almost never the answer when it comes to these common complaints," he added.

www.undertheweather.ie

Concern over mental health services for children

An Oireachtas committee was told the waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health services is too high

An Oireachtas committee has heard that a third of children and adolescents in need of mental health services up to June this year, were admitted to adult wards.

The Director of Mental Health Reform told the Oireachtas Health Committee this morning that despite the Mental Health Code of Practice stating no child should be admitted into an adult ward outside exceptional circumstances, of 158 admissions, 53 were to adult units.

Dr Shari McDaid said this was "too many". She also told the committee that the waiting list for Child and Adolescent Mental Health services is too long. By July this year, 2,757 children were waiting to be seen by CAMS. Dr McDaid said that while that represented a 2% decrease on the previous year, "there are a large number of children waiting to be seen".

She also criticised the Health Service Executive, saying it had been very slow in deciding where to spend the money allocated to Mental Health Services, noting that it decided where to spend the 2014 allocation in September of this year.

Dr McDaid said it is the third year the decision on spending has been delayed, and said she hoped the HSE would be quicker with that decision in 2015.

View here

Open Access Research Award

The HSE Open Access Research Advisory Group have announced a new Open Access Research Award.

The research must address a specific health problem. Areas of inquiry can draw on expertise from anywhere across the spectrum, from the medical, nursing, health and social care disciplines to management. Its ultimate aim should be to fuel significant progress and/or a fundamental change in our collective understanding of an important issue.

Categories include:

• Mental Health
• Acute Hospitals
• Primary Care
• Social Care
• Health and Well Being
• Quality & Patient Safety
• National Cancer Control Programme
• National Clinical Programmes

The proposal must meet the following minimum requirements:
Identify a principal investigator
Approach a topic of local or national significance
Identify a health service improvement as a result of the research
The output must be published in a peer-reviewed journal and openly accessible. Major dissertations which are openly accessible are also eligible. The authors must agree to deposit the research in Lenus the Irish health repository.
The research must have been published in the past 24 months.

Deadlines for entry
The 'Nomination for open access health research award' form is available at www.lenus.ie
Applicants should submit their form online by 5pm 28th November 2014. The successful applicant will be notified on 12th December 2014.

Key Dates & Times
Application Opening date 20th October, 2014, 09:00

Application Closing Date 28th November, 2014, 17:00

View more information here

HSE National Breastfeeding Week 1st – 7th October 2014

National Breastfeeding Week 2014 Events

National Breastfeeding week runs from 1st-7th October Events are Family Friendly & expectant families welcome too. Please come along...

READ MORE View All News

Galway

Event – Breastfeeding Challenge.
Where – Oranmore Community Centre, Oranmore, Co. Galway.
When – Sat 4th Oct 10am-12pm (Latch on at 11am)
Contact -  Claire.kelly20@gmail.com, erin@starvingartistink.comwww.friendsofbreastfeeding.ie

Event – Breastfeeding Challenge.
Where – Knocknacarra Community Rooms, Galway.
When – Sat 4th Oct 10am-12pm (Latch on at 11am)
Contact -  www.friendsofbreastfeeding.ie

Event – Coffee morning
Where – TBC – ring Tara
When – Thurs 2nd Oct 10.30am
Contact -  Tara 086 2328229 Cuidiu Galway

Event – Reunion with breastfeeding mothers & maternity hospital staff.
Where – Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe, Co. Galway.
When – Wed 1st Oct
Organised by  -  Portiuncula Hospital

View full Press Release here

Patient Care - HSE

The Health Service Executive has denied claims by the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation that proposals to change work practices in the health service will compromise patient care.

HSE National Director of Human Resources Barry O'Brien said the latest round of cuts will help deliver the €290m savings agreed under the Haddington Road Agreement.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr O'Brien (HSE) said skill mix is being painted as a negative approach, but it is a safe and appropriate measure.

 He said the ratios differ across departments, as some units require higher ratios of nurses.

Mr O'Brien said the HSE will put in place the best mixture of staff to deliver the best quality of care.
He said it will recruit junior doctors where it can, including eastern Europe, in order to meet its obligations under the European Working Time Directive.

Nurses say the proposals will put severe strain on frontline health staff and managers. INMO General Secretary Liam Doran had earlier said the plan to lower the ratio of nurses to healthcare assistant in an attempt to save €80m this year was unsafe.

The INMO has also expressed concern that only essential posts will be filled from October and they will only be filled by graduates and interns.

Speaking on the same programme, Mr Doran said it would mean the de-skilling of the frontline workforce and result in managers taking decisions to close beds.

Mr Doran said the quality of patient care will suffer.  He said: "There's already been grievous hits. What the HSE is now proposing is a further hit on top of that which will de-skill the workforce at a time when in hospitals, whether that be acute, care of the elderly, disability or care in the community, there is an ever-increasing demand, an ever-increasing level of dependency and an ever-increasing demand to enhance the nursing and support workforce, not to reduce it."

Link to RTE report here