Welcome to our first newsletter of 2021.
I am greatly aware that the beginning of this new year was not how many people would have envisioned it a few months ago. The significant surge in COVID-19 infections, and the subsequent worrying increase in both hospitalisations and admissions to critical care units, has put intense pressure on our health and social care system.
We published our recommendations to support the implementation of a national electronic patient summary in Ireland for the Minister for Health last month, a high priority of the Sláintecare plan and the culmination of two years of research and public engagement.
1,200 people have taken part in our National Public Engagement Survey on Health Information. The survey, run in partnership with the Department of Health and the HSE, asked people about their opinions on how their personal health information is collected, used and shared by health and social care services.
Last month, we completed a public consultation on draft recommendations for implementing a national electronic patient summary in Ireland – receiving over 50 submissions. We are currently working to finalise these recommendations.
We want to hear your views on how a national electronic patient summary should be implemented in Ireland.
We have developed 15 draft recommendations for the Minister for Health on how national electronic patient summaries should be successfully implemented, based on an analysis of Ireland’s current model, expert advice and a review of international best practice.
The collection and processing of health information and data plays a vital role in the response to COVID-19, and the pandemic has seen the implementation and rollout of a number of our recommendations and national standards in areas such as GP referrals and contact tracing.
We are currently conducting a review of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) within the HSE.
Our review of the HSE’s Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) system makes eight recommendations to improve information management related to CIDR. HIQA is reviewing compliance with information management standards in all major national health and social care data collections within the HSE.
We continue our work to assess whether eHealth services within the HSE are compliant with HIQA standards, with a review currently underway of the National Electronic Referrals Service.
Our Health Information Team is launching two digital learning modules today to support health and social care professionals and organisations to improve the quality of the data they collect.
