HSE publishes Capital Plan 2021

The Health Service Executive’s Capital Plan for 2021 has been published and will see an investment of almost €1 billion for the construction and equipping of health facilities.

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly announced the plan to support the delivery of strategic reform and a move towards universal healthcare.

Speaking about the new plan, Minister Donnelly said the investment “is evidence of the importance that the government places on improving healthcare in Ireland and supporting the move towards universal healthcare’.

A number of health capital projects and programmes are underway and at various stages of development including:

• the New Children’s Hospital
• projects to provide additional capacity in our hospitals
• the Radiation Oncology Programme in Cork, Dublin and Galway
• the Primary Care Centre construction programme
• the replacement and refurbishment of community nursing units for older people and long-term residential care units and housing in the community for people with disabilities
• mental health projects to upgrade and expand facilities
• capital funding for the national equipment replacement programme, ambulance fleet replacement and minor capital provision to deal with infrastructural risk priorities

You can read the Health Service Executive’s Capital Plan for 2021 in full here.

Covid-19 booster vaccines will be available from autumn

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly has said that Covid-19 booster vaccines could begin from September.

Government plans have commenced for the rollout of a booster programme with nursing home residents, the over-80s and frontline healthcare workers expected to start receiving their booster vaccines from autumn.

Taoiseach, Micheál Martin has said he expects vaccine-booster shots to be available to wider sections of society in the winter.

The booster vaccine is expected to be administered in line with the flu vaccine.

DCU nursing student Sarah Torrans represents Ireland at 2020 Olympics

Sarah Torrans, a third year General Nursing student at DCU has been competing on the Irish hockey team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Sarah is part of the first Irish women’s hockey team to qualify for the Olympic Games, after beating Canada on home ground in November 2019.

Team Ireland, the 2018 World Cup silver medallists, had one win from five in Pool A, missing out on a quarter-final place after their 2-0 defeat against Great Britain at the Oi Hockey Stadium.

DCU unveils portrait of the late Ms Justice Mella Carroll

DCU has unveiled a portrait of the late Ms Justice Mella Carroll who served as Chancellor of the University from 2001 and chair of the Governing Authority. Ms Justice Carroll was the first woman to serve as an Irish High Court judge.

Ms Justice Carroll’s report on the Commission on Nursing (1997-98) marked a significant milestone for the nursing and midwifery practice in Ireland, by highlighting the independence of the nursing profession and recommending that nursing education be undertaken within the university sector. This led to a new framework for further professional development of nurses and midwives.

More on this story is available here.