Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (Croke Park Agreement) Integrated Departmental and Agencies Action Plan 2012

Public Service Agreement 2010-2014 (Croke Park Agreement) Integrated Departmental and Agencies Action Plan 2012 Integrated Departmental and Agencies Action Plan (Jan 2012) PDF 54kb Integrated Departmental and Agencies Action Plan (Oct 2012) PDF 194kb  

Public Service Agreement - Revised Health Sector Action Plan - December 2012

The health service has been at the forefront in delivering significant change under the PSA. The substantial contribution already made by health service staff, especially during the period of concentrated retirements up to February 2012, is acknowledged and much appreciated by management. These changes are being achieved in what is a complex working environment with increasing demands, (500,000 increase in medical card holders between 2007 and 2012) and a growing and ageing population, within a public health service which is undergoing unprecedented organisational change and reform, accompanied by a reducing workforce. Public Service Agreement – Revised Health Sector Action Plan- December 2012 savings report Click here to download PDF 51kb

Future Health - A Strategic Framework for Reform of the Health Service 2012 - 2015

The Programme for Government promises the most fundamental reform of our health services in the history of the State. Future Health – A Srategic Framework for Reform of the Health Service 2012 – 2015 details the actions that we will take to deliver on this promise. The need for change in the health service is unquestionable. The current system is unfair to patients; it often  fails  to meet their needs fast enough; and it does not deliver value for money.   Click here to download

Future Dementia Care in Ireland: Sharing the Evidence to Mobilise Action

A major challenge facing societies across the world today is population ageing. The fact that people are living longer and the notable improvements in the overall quality of life and well-being of older people today needs to be celebrated. However, population ageing will inevitably result in an increase in disability and a very significant increase in the incidence of age-related health problems especially Alzheimer's disease and the related dementias. Click here to download PDF 2.5mb

Action Report A, B, and C v. Ireland- Application no 25579/2005

Three applicants, A,B and C, all of whom had crisis pregnancies, brought proceedings against Ireland before the European Court of Human Rights claiming violations of Articles 2, 3, 8, 14 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. 1.In its judgment delivered on 16 December 2010 the Grand Chamber determined that there had been no violation of the Convention in relation to the first and second applicants, Ms. A and Ms. B.2.The Grand Chamber determined that there had been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention in relation to applicant Ms. C . Click here to download PDF 156kb  

Action Plan A, B, and C v. Ireland

Action Plan A, B, and C v. Ireland As required, Ireland submitted an Action Plan to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 30th November on the implementation of the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and C v Ireland case. The Action Plan can be downloaded at this link: Click here to download PDF 56kb  

Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structure Interim Report

Click here to download Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structure Interim Report PDF 44kb Click here to download Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structure Terms of Reference PDF 59KB

Health Sector Children First Strategic Implementation Plan

Health Sector Children First Strategic Implementation Plan Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2011) (referred to as Children First hereafter), is intended to assist people in identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect and deal effectively with concerns. It emphasises that the needs of children and families must be at the centre of child protection and welfare services, and that the welfare of children is of paramount importance. Click here to download PDF 73KB

Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structures Report on Medical Career Structures and Pathways following completion of Specialist Training

The Minister for Health decided, in July 2013, to establish a Working Group, chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU, to carry out a strategic review of medical training and career structure. The Working Group will examine and make high-level recommendations relating to training and career pathways for doctors with a view to: From January-April 2014, the Working Group prioritised work on career structures and pathways following completion of specialist training in order to report to the Minister for Health on these issues in this report. Download the Report (PDF, 800 kb)  

Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structure Final Report

  Final report of the Strategic Review Working Group chaired by Professor Brian MacCraith (President, DCU) This final report focuses on issues relating to strategic medical workforce planning and career planning and mentoring supports for trainee doctors and makes recommendations. It also addresses specific issues in relation to the specialties of public health medicine, general practice and the community-based aspects of psychiatry.   Download the report here.  

Action Cancer

The pharmacist will hold sessions with particpants to raise breast awareness in the Ardoyne and Shankill areas and provide information on health issues they want more detail on. Five essions were carried out by the pharmacist on women's health - mainly breast awareness with 53 women attending in total. The pharmacist gave health related information to the women and discussion followed. Each group attending were unique and each discussion brought up different concerns and interests. Cancer Lifeline a community group attended the session and have since made links with the pharmacist and Action Cancer.

PHA/HSCB Hidden Harm Action Plan

This joint PHA/HSCB Hidden Harm Action Plan - Responding to the needs of children born to and living with parental alcohol and drug misuse in Northern Ireland, has been prepared for the DHSSPS in response to the PfA target on Hidden Harm. The plan was approved by DHSSPS in October 2009.

Strategic development review of health board food control laboratories

The Official Food Safety laboratories have a critical role in ensuring food safety and public health for the whole population of the Republic of Ireland. These public health laboratories are made up of 7 microbiological testing laboratories and 3 chemical or Public Analyst’s laboratories. The laboratories are regionally based and offer an accredited (INAB) service to 10 health boards thus spanning the country. The role of the laboratories is to test food for compliance with the relevant legislation and guidelines, identify food-borne hazards and disease outbreaks, provide essential risk assessment information for national and international needs, provide a food testing service for consumers and a water testing service on a national basis. They also participate in dedicated National and EU surveys under the auspices of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). There has been significant investment and development in food-related public health protection in Ireland in recent years. However, there are still a number of issues that have the potential to impact on these laboratories in delivering a fully effective public health service in a cost efficient manner. Building on what has been achieved to date, this strategic review identifies those issues to be addressed in order to ensure (1) a cost effective national co-ordinated food safety laboratory service, (2) that future laboratory service needs are accounted for in the delivery of their Public Health role, and (3) that this Service meets both national and international requirements and standards.

Tackling Health Inequalities through Action on the Social Determinants of Health: Lessons from Experience

Briefing 10 - Lessons from experience This document, commissioned by Public Health England, and written by the UCL Institute of Health Equity, sets out 12 points to consider when taking action locally on the social determinants of health. It is intended as a source of information on approaches to consider when devising local programmes and strategies to reduce health inequalities. It complements the other briefings and evidence reviews in this series, which provide more detail on action on specific social determinant areas, such as employment and early years interventions, including information on impacts and cost effectiveness where available. The 12 steps are divided across three parts. The first part sets out four strategies that help prioritise action on health equity. The next steps are principles of effective action on the social determinants of the health, presented in the second part. Finally, the steps in part three outline ways of ensuring that measures to increase health equity are sustainable and have impact over the long term. The briefing is available to download above. This document is part of a series. An overview document which provides an introduction to this and other documents in the series, and links to the other topic areas, is available on the ‘Local Action on health inequalities’ project page. A video of Michael Marmot introducing the work is also available on our videos page.

Enough is Enough - Food Poverty Scoping Exercise

In March 2015, over 80 people, representing food banks, churches, advice services, community organisations, statutory agencies and universities attended the ‘Enough is Enough’  launch event in City Church, Belfast to examine the rising demand for emergency food across the city.The ‘Enough is Enough’ project aims to harness the expertise of health and social care professionals, city councillors, advice workers, food banks, community and faith based organisations and strategic bodies across Belfast to collectively address the issue of food poverty. This scoping study lays the foundation for developing an action plan to tackle food poverty in Belfast in collaboration with the community, voluntary and statutory sectors.The Belfast Food Network (BFN) commissioned the project with funding from the Public Health Agency. The research was carried out by Jenny McCurry, who also wrote the report, on behalf of Advice NI.  The project was initiated and developed by Dr Elizabeth Mitchell, Institute of Public Health in Ireland, in her role as convener of the BFN Food Poverty Working Group (BFN/FPWG). Thanks are due to Kevin Higgins, Head of Policy, Advice NI, and Kerry Melville, Co-ordinator, BFN, for their involvement in the project.The BFN is a founding member of the pioneering Sustainable Food Cities Network (SFC). Therapidly growing BFN was established in March 2014 to work with partners to establish a successful Sustainable Food City in Belfast.ACCESS AUDIO AND VIDEO FROM THE EVENT