A delegation from the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement met with representatives from the West/North West Hospitals Group in Letterkenny today. The purpose of the visit was to further develop the Committee’s understanding of the areas where cross-border cooperation in healthcare might be advanced.
At the February Board meeting a number of items were discussed including the ongoing review of Maternity Services for the Hospital Group.
The Board welcomed the first phase of the review and has accepted the short term recommendations which are to further develop the clinical governance structures across the Group and to develop consistent models of care.
Mayo General Hospital (MGH) is introducing a smoke free campus policy on Wednesday 05 March.
From this date it will no longer be possible to smoke anywhere on the hospital grounds, for example entrances, doorways, walkways, internal roads, car parks, cars etc.
The West / North West Hospitals Group is currently looking for people to volunteer to be part of the Patient Council for the Group. The aim of the Patient Council is to work closely with staff in the Hospital Group to improve the experience patients have when using the services of the hospitals in the Group.
Professor Declan Devane, Chair of Midwifery at the School of Nursing and Midwifery, NUI Galway has been seconded to the West / North West Hospitals Group (WNWHG) on a half-time basis over five years and took up his post on 20 January 2014.
The Professor of Midwifery post will provide strategic and clinical leadership and direction for midwifery and maternity related nursing services for the hospital group and it is the first post of its kind in the country.
The West / North West Hospitals Group has recently appointed four Clinical Directors and an interim Chief Academic Officer to advance the integration of the Hospital Group and to provide leadership for training and education across the Group. The existing Group governance structure has been streamlined and now a total of four clinical directorates will manage the clinical specialities across all hospitals. The new directorates are:
Management from the West/North West Hospitals Group met with Oireachtas and Regional Health Forum West members from Galway and Roscommon today (Friday 31 January) to review developments in 2013 and to outline the priorities for the Group in 2014. Similar briefings are arranged for Sligo and Mayo and a briefing took place in Letterkenny last week.
Galway University Hospitals (GUH) is a leader in Interventional Radiology with a world class service providing venous endovascular reconstruction to patients from all over Ireland and overseas.
Venous endovascular reconstruction involves using a minimally invasive, targeted treatment to get through blockages in veins and to insert stents to connect areas of normal veins back together.
Ann Cosgrove, General Manager, Galway University Hospitals and Tony Canavan, Chief Operating Officer, West/North West Hospitals Group provided an update on Merlin Park University Hospital at a Regional Health Forum Committee meeting in Galway yesterday, Tuesday 28 January.
The purpose of the presentation was to give an overview of the hospital as it currently is and to provide details of medium and long term priorities for the hospital site.
Roscommon Hospital introduced a smoke free campus policy on Monday 06 January.
Since this date it is no longer possible to smoke anywhere on the hospital grounds, for example entrances, doorways, walkways, internal roads, car parks, cars, bicycle shelters etc.
