Final Evaluation Report demonstrated the many benefits of Advanced Nursing Practitioners

The Final Evaluation Report on the Impact of Implementing the Draft Policy on Graduate, Specialist and Advanced Nursing Practice (DOH, 2017) has been published.

The independent evaluation of the policy implementation, commissioned by the Office of the Nursing and Midwifery Services Director (ONMSD), HSE was led jointly by Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork. The evaluation examined the specific impact of Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP) on service challenges using several key indicators such as access to services, waiting lists, avoidance of unnecessary hospital admissions, improved patient flow and support for early discharge from hospital.

The policy was implemented across the four service areas of older persons, unscheduled (ED), respiratory and rheumatology care and evaluated through the work of 124 ANPs appointed to these areas of services with known challenges.

The report demonstrated the positive impacts for patients and services through implementation of ANP roles, for example, each ANP removes on average 3.9 patients per week from specialist waiting lists; on average 4.3 patients per ANP are avoiding hospital admission on a weekly basis and there is a reduction in overall Patient Experience Times (PET) of up to 2 hours 43 minutes for patients seen in emergency care areas which include ANPs as part of the care delivery model.

You can read the report here.

Funding of €1.58m provided for 24 additional Lactation Consultants

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly has provided additional funding of €1.58m to the HSE to fund 24 additional lactation consultants thereby providing support to every maternity unit in the country.

Announcing this extra funding, Minister Donnelly said: “This year, Healthy Ireland and Sláintecare are making a significant investment towards implementing the National Breastfeeding Action Plan. We all know how important it is that our children get the best possible start in life and this is something all Government partners have prioritised in the Programme for Government.

“Ireland has a culture of bottle feeding and in order to improve child and maternal health, as well as reducing childhood obesity we need to improve our breastfeeding rates. This funding will provide for Lactation Consultants across hospital and community settings to ensure timely skilled assistance for mothers who wish to breastfeed. It will also support enhanced training, skills and knowledge to frontline staff.”

You can read more about it here.

Reeves Day Surgery Centre officially opened at Tallaght University Hospital

The Minister of Health, Stephen Donnelly has officially opened the Tallaght University Hospital Reeves Day Surgery Centre.

The new facility aims to increase elective day surgeries and eliminate long wait times for routine day surgery.

Commenting at the opening of the new centre, Minister Donnelly said: “this new infrastructure will provide Tallaght University Hospital with the ability to separate elective and emergency care and therefore the opportunity to dramatically reduce waiting lists, offering patients the right care, in the right place, at the right time. These new surgeries are just one small element of the considerable progress that has already been made with Sláintecare implementation.”

A joint project carried out by Tallaght University Hospital and IRES, the new facility is part of a five-year strategy in response to the changing direction of health care in Ireland.

The full article is available here.