Friday, April 29th 2016. Innovation and effectiveness were the central themes at this year’s Annual Clinical Audit and Quality Improvement Symposium, held today at Tallaght Hospital. The two keynote speakers were Consultant Anaesthetist Professor Steve Bolsin, considered the founder of Clinical Governance after his work in Bristol Hospital in the UK, and Sarah Reid, a practicing barrister, medical devices law lecturer in Trinity College Dublin and a guest lecturer in medical law at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
This annual event, which is hosted by the Meath Foundation and Tallaght Hospital, is an integral part of the support provided to staff in ongoing education, training and professional development within the Hospital. The symposium this year, consisted of 12 presentations by various professionals in the healthcare sectors, on subjects as varied as growth hormones for children, sepsis care, and information sharing with GPs.
In his address, Professor Steve Bolsin spoke about his work in the Bristol Royal Infirmary Hospital and how it led to the creation of Clinical Governance, in a presentation entitled, “Lessons from the Bristol Scandal: Still Relevant Today”. He was later followed by Sarah Reid who spoke in-depth about legal issues in the medical profession. As well as being a barrister and a lecturer, Sarah writes for the Irish Times and Sunday Times. She has recently published the second edition of her book ‘The Devils Handbook’ which is a practical guide to the Courts and courts services for junior barristers starting out in practice and she is working on a similar ‘idiots guide’ for junior doctors and nurses starting out.
Guests at The Symposium held in the Trinity Lecture Theatre, at the Education Centre in Tallaght Hospital were welcomed by Michael Scanlan, Chairman of the Tallaght Hospital Board. The event was followed by the awarding of prizes by Chairman of the Meath Foundation, Mairead Shields and poster viewing.
Michael Scanlan, Chairman, Tallaght Hospital said, “The Annual Clinical Audit and Quality Improvement Symposium 2016 is a source of pride to us at Tallaght Hospital as it demonstrates our commitment to continuous innovation in healthcare and improving effectiveness for our patients. This year we are delighted to have such excellent keynote speakers as Professor Bolsin and Ms Reid. Both have contributed hugely to medical care in different ways through their work. We hope all those who attended today had an enjoyable and illuminating experience.”
Mairead Shields, Chairman of the Meath Association said, “At the Meath Foundation we are always interested in promoting and supporting the latest research in healthcare. This annual symposium is an important part of this mission and we are very happy that once again it has been a great success. Speakers and guests discussed some of the most cutting edge research in medical care and our keynote speakers gave fascinating presentations on their substantial contributions to medical care. Our theme was innovation and effectiveness and we hope that guests will incorporate what they learned today into their approach to patients and patient care.”
The Clinical Audit and Quality Improvement Symposium is a key feature of Tallaght Hospital’s research programme. This event is CPD certified.
About Tallaght Hospital
Tallaght Hospital is one of Ireland’s largest acute teaching hospitals, providing child-health, adult, psychiatric and age-related healthcare on one site. The hospital has 495 adult beds and 67 paediatric bed with 2,600 people on staff. The Hospital is a provider of local, regional and national specialities. It is also a national urology centre, the second largest provider of dialysis services in the country and a regional orthopaedic trauma centre.
Tallaght Hospital is one of two main teaching hospitals of Trinity College Dublin - specialising in the training and professional development of staff in areas such as nursing, health and social care professionals, emergency medicine and surgery, amongst many others. Tallaght Hospital is part of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which serves a population of over 1.2 million across seven counties.
A new satellite centre is to be built at Tallaght Hospital as part of the National Children’s Hospital project as a key element of an integrated clinical network for paediatric services nationally.
The hospital’s Emergency Departments catered for 44,640 Adult ED Attendances and 31,934 Paediatric Attendances in 2014. A further 263,929 patients were treated through the hospital’s outpatient clinics in 2014. The hospital’s operations are supported by a community of 200 general practitioners in surrounding communities.
