Details of Service A key responsibility of the HSE is implementing universal Healthcare in the Programme for Government and underpinned by the Sláintecare policy framework.
This high-level strategic roadmap to deliver a universal single-tier health and social care system, where everyone has equitable access to services based on need and the focus is on continuous improvement of outcome and integration of services.
Sláintecare signals a new direction for the delivery of health and social care services in Ireland with the potential to create a far more sustainable, equitable, cost-effective system and one that delivers better value for patients and service users.
At its core, the strategy focuses on establishing programmes of work to move to a community-led model, providing local populations with access to a comprehensive range of services at every stage of their lives.
This will enable our healthcare system to provide care closer to home for patients and service users, to be more responsive to needs and deliver better outcomes, with a strong focus on prevention and population health improvement.
Health Region Implementation Central to the Sláintecare vision is the reorganisation of the HSE into six new health regions, in turn divided for operational purposes into a number of Integrated Health Areas, and a revised national structure which supports this model.
The new regional structures will provide the organisational and aligned corporate and clinical governance arrangements to enable population-based planning, management, and delivery of integrated care for people within a region.
These new arrangements aim to improve the health service's ability to deliver timely integrated care to patients and service users, care that is planned and funded in line with their needs at regional and local level.
The primary objective of this reform is to help deliver universal and integrated care for people, providing them with timely access to the care they need, when they need it.
This will help to ensure that the needs of people are prioritised by promoting a culture that seeks to continuously improve the access to, and quality of, health and social care services.
This will be achieved by refining processes and minimising structural barriers to integrated care thereby increasing productivity and the consistency, effectiveness, and efficiency of services.
The changes in healthcare governance arrangements are being designed to make our services easier to navigate for people, and to facilitate more integrated care, stronger accountability, and greater transparency across the sector.
This in turn aims to foster change and innovation at a local level to deliver high-quality services to populations based on their needs, making our service a better place to work for our staff.
The move to a regionalised approach, represents a major shift in the approach to the planning, funding and delivery of health and social care services.
In line with international best practice, the new arrangements will support a population-based approach to the planning and resourcing of the geographic delivery of services to improve health outcomes for people in Ireland.
The structure and associated functions of the Health Regions are evolving in line with the implementation of the Health Regions programme to achieve a clinically led, professionally managed, integrated governance structure which will result in:
An integrated approach to management, governance and service delivery across hospital-based and community-based services The delivery of high-quality and safe services Regional and national consistency in quality and standards of care High standards in clinical aspects of governance Sustainable quality assurance and improvement Bringing decision making closer to the point of care with increased responsiveness More streamlined care pathways for patients within and across specialties, organisations and functions Clarity of responsibility and accountability for all staff Integrated planning and delivery of services across the pathway of care Optimisation of resources across the region with an increasing focus on productivity in the public interest.
HSE South West HSE South West was formally established on 3rd March ****.
The Regional Health Authority of HSE South West replaced the previous South-South West Hospital Group and Cork-Kerry Community Healthcare structures.
HSE South West provides health and social care services to a population of in excess of 700,000 across Cork and Kerry.
Service are delivered through three Integrated Health Areas – Cork South and West, Cork North and East and Kerry.
Cork University Hospital is aligned to IHA Cork South and West.
The region's priorities include improving access to services maintaining quality and safety, reducing waiting times for acute and community services, and supporting public health and well-being.
HSE South West is committed to building a health service of which our community can be proud.
To deliver on this commitment the HSE South West lives the HSE Values of Care, Compassion, Trust and Learning through our Integr8 commitments.
Key responsibilities The Regional Director for Nursing & Midwifery (RDONM) is an Expert Review Body recommended post and the most senior Nurse/Midwife leadership position within the HSE Health Regions.
The RDNM will be central to the delivery of the nursing and midwifery input of Sláintecare Reform Programme shaping the development of the regional health and social care system to meet future service needs.
The RDONM in collaboration with the REO and Executive Management Team will:
· Enable the establishment of nursing and midwifery governance structures for delivering integrated, high quality clinical and professional leadership in all health region activities.
· Contribute to the regional clinical direction and provide leadership for delivery of clinical care working collaboratively with the Regional Clinical Director, the Regional Director of Population and Public Health, and the wider clinical community of medical, dental, health and social care professionals and nursing and midwifery on the delivery of an integrated health and social care agenda
· Provide overarching professional governance and leadership across the portfolio of responsibility to enable, facilitate and develop the profession, in line with regional and national objectives.
· Work collaboratively with the National Nursing & Midwifery Advisor and the Office of Nursing and Midwifery Services (ONMSD) to progress regional and national reform, the strategic development of nursing and midwifery that maximises professional practice and capacity and enables national consistency and compliance with Standards and Regulatory requirements.
· Provide oversight of workforce planning and safe staffing aligned to national policy in collaboration with Nursing & Midwifery Managers in the Health Region and HR colleagues.
The RDONM reporting to the REO and working with multi-disciplinary colleagues on the Executive Management Team and Regional Clinical Executive Team will be the lead for the following corporate executive functions:
(i) Clinical care co-ordination, implementation and scale up of the integrated care programmes working with the Regional Clinical Director to progress modernised care pathways and Networks of Care within a multi-disciplinary team context.
(ii) Enable Regional Nursing and Midwifery Governance for care environments to implement safe and effective Integrated Care aligned with Care Pathways and Networks
(iii) Regional coordination and clinical alignment for Patient Experience and Service User Engagement
(iv) Ensuring excellence and innovation in the delivery of safe nursing and midwifery care
The RDONM with other members of the Health Region Executive Management Team will:
· Be accountable for key matters relating to the relevant clinical communities and groups across the clinical and care workforce in their region.
· Be accountable for statutory and non-statutory functions that the Regional Executive will need to perform.
· Have direct line management responsibility for a number of nursing posts which have a region wide remit.
· Where the post holder has accountability for certain functions but does not hold direct line management reporting responsibility for persons responsible for those functions, they will have the authority to ensure the safe and appropriate delivery of services in line with their executive management duties.
· Be responsible for implementation of key national policy, strategies and programmes of care including, but not limited to
· Achieving Performance Targets in both Scheduled and Unscheduled Care
· National Dementia Strategy,
· National Cancer Strategy,
· National Stroke Strategy,
· National Maternity Strategy
· National Trauma Strategy;
· Modernised Care Pathways Programme;
· National Genetics and Genomics Strategy;
· Healthy Ireland Strategic Action Plan and Implementation Plan;
· Sharing the Vision – A Mental Health Policy for Everyone;
· Connecting for Life, the national suicide prevention strategy
· Digital Health Framework for Ireland,
· Department of Health Chief Nursing Officer Policies to include - Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing & Skill-Mix, Graduate to Advanced Nursing & Midwifery Practice Policy, Report from the Expert review Body on Nursing and Midwifery, Strategy for the Office of the Chief Nursing Officer, and Patient Safety Policy and Legislation.
· Digital Roadmap for Nursing and Midwifery
Purpose of the Post The primary purpose of the Regional Director of Nursing and Midwifery role is to provide overarching professional leadership and governance for nursing and midwifery across the full continuum of care, encompassing hospital and community-based and public health services within the Health Region, including those provided by Section 38 organisations.
The RDONM will be responsible for compliance with clinical practice standards of nurses, midwives and the care team, within the context of a multi-disciplinary team-based approach.
This will be achieved through:
· Setting strategic objectives that support positive outcomes and experiences for patients, service users and families;
· Enabling regional reform, compliance with legislative and regulatory frameworks, safe nursing and midwifery staffing, maximising capacity, mobility and flexibility of the allocated resource, and honouring the core values of nursing and midwifery.
The RDONM reporting to the Regional Executive Officer and working with the Executive Management Team will:
· Lead on overseeing clinical care co-ordination, implementation and scale up of integrated care.
The role provides for professional leadership and governance for the establishment of nursing and midwifery care pathways and Networks of Care facilitating person-focused, integrated and multidisciplinary delivery of care for service users and patients.
· In partnership with the Regional Clinical Director, the RDNM will foster multi-professional clinical and care leadership focus in the delivery of the Health Region objectives.
· In partnership with the Regional Clinical Director the Regional Director of Nursing and Midwifery will lead on overseeing quality of health services within the Health Region including sharing intelligence and working with other key partners and regulators across and outside their system to improve quality of care and outcomes as appropriate.
· Be the accountable lead for clinical alignment to the Health Region Patient and Service User Engagement Office to transform the relationships with patients, so that they are involved and integral to the executive management team objectives.
· As part of this team, ensure appropriate care through standards, regulatory compliance, professionalism and a focus on quality, patient safety, and continuous improvement in patient experience across all services; working collaboratively with colleagues to identify areas for patient safety improvement and/or clinical audit and to inform improvement initiatives
· Drive Research, Education, Transformation, Innovation and Digital Enablement to support the delivery of integrated care aligned to health region population needs and informed by Health Needs Assessment.
· Enable the advancement of clinical practice, service innovation and excellence through collaborations with the Regional Clinical Director, Regional Director of Research, the Chief Academic Officer, Academic Health Science Departments, Higher Education Bodies, HSE Centre National Nurse Midwife Advisor/ONMSD, Regulators, Department of Health, and other agencies/disciplines as appropriate.
· Influence and work collaboratively as part of a wider system, to create sustainable opportunities to improve health and wellbeing and reduce the risk posed to future generations through inter-professional care solutions for the population of the Health Region.
The RDONM reporting to the Regional Executive Officer and working with the Executive Management Team will:
· Provide a strategic and whole system clinical leadership role as an integral member of the Executive Management Team to drive integration, Networks of Care, partnerships and a population health approach.
· With executive colleagues, drive the Health Region reform agenda to the relevant clinical communities and care workforce, by demonstrating a shared purpose and visible leadership for the development of integrated networks, care pathways, and processes of care to improve and add value to the lives of individuals, families and communities.
· Shape the design of the Regional Clinical Executive Team and evolving regional clinical governance structures and arrangements.
· Provide professional leadership at executive level to ensure clinical governance for the delivery of care standardisation, consistency and safe, staffed and sustainable services across integrated care pathways.
· Lead and be accountable for the clinical care co-ordination, implementation, and scale up of integrated care programmes and modernised care pathways.
· Play a key role with others in the Health Region Planning and Performance function to enable operational delivery of care across the continuum, encompassing hospital and community-based services, public health services and Section 38 organisations.
· Lead on coordination and clinical alignment relating to Patient and Service User Engagement with regional objectives
· Advance clinical practices and service innovation and excellence through policy development, education, research, digital technologies and academic alliances to ensure a sustainable response to meet integrated care delivery and population needs in the Health Region.
As a registered professional, individuals in these roles will be accountable for their own practice and conduct in the role.
It will be for the Regional Executive Officer to determine what other specific corporate functions each executive board member is accountable for within the Health Region.
Informal Enquiries We welcome enquiries about the role.
Contact Bridie O'Sullivan– Regional Director of Nursing & Midwifery, HSE Southwest, ******/************** for further information about the role
Contact Eimear O'Sullivan- People Resourcing, ****** – for enquiries relating to the recruitment process