IRISH NEWS

IRISH news The latest in nationwide health, medical and emergency services news.

HSE DIGITAL TEAM AWARDED

The HSE’s Digital Transformation team won two awards and were partners in a further two at the Irish Healthcare Awards held at the end of 2020. The ceremony, which took place online, saw the Digital Team win in the Educational Meeting of the Year category for HSE Digital Academy and Best COVID-19 Response: Public Sector category. They were also associated with two other winners, namely RedZinc Services, who won Best COVID-19 Response Private Sector for their video consultation initiative, and Patient MPower, which helped to monitor patients in their own homes. Speaking at the awards, Professor Martin Curley, Director of HSE Digital Transformation said: “We are thrilled with this national recognition for our efforts in aligning the digital health ecosystem and the co-delivery of important digital solutions in response to COVID-19. The recognition encourages us to redouble our efforts to lead and catalyse digital transformation of our health system. Members of the Children’s Health Ireland board have undertaken an in-depth analysis of further possible delays to the construction of the New Children’s Hospital and raised concerns over the impact of further delays on staff morale. They have written to the Minister for Health to express these concerns, “outlining the concerns in relation to the impact of delays on the delivery of services. In November, the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) Chief Officer Mr David Gunning told the Oireachtas committee on health there were “considerable pressures” on the construction budget for the completion of the NCH, and it was subsequently reported that Mr Gunning said the completion date of August 2022 would not be met, but a new completion date could not be provided

DELAYS TO CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL QUERIED

CALL FOR AIR CORP SEARCH AND RESCUE ROLE

The Government has been urged by a group of aviation experts and a number of Oireachtas members to give the Air Corps a role in Ireland’s search and rescue services. A new search and rescue aviation contract is currently being developed, but Minister for Defence Simon Coveney says he does not expect the Air Corps to have full responsibility for these services in future contracts. However, he has stated that he does want it to be as involved as it possibly can be. Gerard Craughwell, Independent Senator and chair of Secure Ireland’s Search and Rescue (SISAR), said the group wants to “solidify” the Air Corp’s involvement in these services. “While there has been a contract for operating the helicopter side of search and rescue over the last ten years, the Irish Air Corps were on an available basis for top cover, which is a communications link between the helicopter and mainland,” he told national radio. He added that the State has recently spent €260million on new aircraft, while pilots have been recommissioned into the Air Corps and the expertise is there to provide full, on contract top cover once resources are made available, as well as for search and rescue helicopters to be used on the east coast. Mr Craughwell added that this service provision should be put on a formal footing similar to the air ambulance and Garda helicopter services, which would allow for a rostered service where air search and rescue would be on standby and available 24/7 and 365 days a year.

INVESTMENT IN STATE SECURITY URGED

Ireland must invest in its air, sea and cybersecurity to fend off threats from hostile states such as Russia, a number of military officers and academics have advised. Writing in the Defence Forces review 2020, the experts point to incursions into Irish airspace by Russian aircraft as well as Russian submarine activity near the Irish Sea, and highlight the lack of Irish air interception capability, with a dependence on the British RAF. They highlight the threat to Ireland’s hightech industry posed by both interference in undersea cables transmitting data across the Atlantic and a lack of investment in cybersecurity, saying that the establishment of the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces and the development of Ireland’s first National Security Strategy present opportunities for investment in security infrastructure. Commandant Derek McGourty said in the review that Russian incursion into Irish airspace and the Irish Sea have added to “growing concerns about Ireland’s inability to protect its critical national infrastructure”. He added: “The Irish Naval service has no anti-submarine capability and its ability to deter or even detect such maritime intelligence gathering is exceptionally limited. Neither has Ireland got the radar, air defence and air interdiction capability necessary to deter and monitor Russian or other aircraft entering Irish airspace without permission.” Dr Viktoriya Fedorchak, lecturer in European Studies at the Norwegian university of Science and Technology, pointed out that Ireland is “an ideal point” to destabilise regional security and undermine the UK’s defences, and argued that investment in national fighter jets for the Air Corps is the main solution to the current and future threats to the Irish State.

TCD MEDICINE PROGRAMME MONITORED

The undergraduate medicine programme at Trinity College Dublin is subject to an “ongoing progress monitoring process” following a highly critical accreditation report by the Medical Council. An inspection took place in 2018 with the programme accredited for two years rather than the standard five. In one of its major findings, the Council’s accreditation report stated that a number of third and fifth year students reported that they had experienced a high level of stress and that supports provided by the School of Medicine were not effective. Fifth year students described “a very mixed experience”, while third year students claimed the School was “dismissive of stress, mental health issues and wellbeing of the students”, citing a lack of support while on rotation in Tallaght and St James’s Hospitals, and a failure to properly introduce them into the

NAS AIR SERVICE MILESTONE

PRE-HOSPITAL EMERGENCY CARE

The National Ambulance Service’s Emergency Aeromedical Service (AES) reached an impressive milestone in October of last year when it airlifted its 3,000th patient. Established in June, 2012, the service operating out of Athlone is a joint project between the Department of Health, the HSE and the Defence Forces, enabling the rapid transfer of critical patients to the most appropriate hospital. It has since become a vital asset to the Midlands region in terms of critical pre-hospital care.

Two senior figures have recently been appointed to the Pre-Hospital Emergency Care Council. Chief Fire Officer with Dublin Fire Brigade, Dennis Keeley, and Director Emeritus of the Order of Malta Ambulance Corps, Aidan O’Brien, will serve on the Council until August 2024. They were appointed by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly following nominations last year.

clinical setting. According to the report, when feedback was given to the School of Medicine on a number of issues at a special meeting, they were told to take responsibility of their issues themselves. Professor Michael Gill, head of TCD School of Medicine said they were taking on board all recommendations from the Medical Council and there are ongoing discussions with the College and the HSE on their implementation.