HSE Partnership Conference highlights continued system-wide patient and public involvement

Inspiring stories and shared learning from people with lived experience that improve health and social care services were shared at the 4th Annual HSE Patient Partnership conference which took place in Croke Park recently (Thursday, 15 October).

Over 300 people attended the conference themed “From Islands of Partnership to System-wide Practice and Policy.”

People with lived and living experience - patients, services users and healthcare professionals - showcased how partnership contributes to the design, implementation and evaluation of health and social care services in Ireland.

The conference programme also included sessions on partnership and equity in population health, digital health decision-making, Traveller mental health, disability services, cancer support, community participation and integrated service delivery.

Lived Experience Day was also marked on the day recognising the knowledge and expertise that patients, service users, families, carers and communities bring to health and social care.

Minister for Health Jennifer Carrol MacNeill said: “Across our health and social care services, we see many examples of meaningful partnership in action, with patients, families, carers and communities helping to shape services, policy and decision-making, showing what can be achieved when people work together as equal partners. Our challenge now is to build on that progress and ensure partnership is not limited to individual projects or local initiatives but becomes a consistent and expected part of how services are governed, designed and delivered. Partnership should not be the exception; it should be part of how we work every day.”

Anne O’Connor, HSE CEO said: “Partnership is central to how the HSE delivers and improves services. People with lived and living experience bring knowledge and insight that can help us make better decisions, identify gaps and design services that are more accessible and responsive.

“The conference gives us an opportunity to recognise the progress that has been made and to listen to what partners are telling us about the work that remains. Our focus now is to build the capacity, leadership and culture needed to make partnership a consistent part of everyday practice across the HSE.”

Mary VasseghI, patient partner and member of the HSE National Partnership Council said: “Partnership matters because people don’t just experience the health service; they have knowledge that the health service requires. The new National Partnership Council creates a vehicle through which that knowledge can inform governance, research, policy, services and care.”

Developing partnership across the HSE

The HSE has established a number of new partnership structures and approaches, including:

• The National Partnership Council and six Regional Partnership Councils, bringing lived and living experience alongside professional experience to explore issues of strategic and operational importance.
• The HSE Partnership Hub, which shares information, resources, events and training opportunities.
• The HSE Partnership Scholarship Programme, supporting seven partners to undertake a professional diploma in participatory research through the University of Limerick.
• The HIQA-HSE National Care Experience Programme, which gathers and analyses people’s experiences of care across a range of health settings.

Over 50 poster presentations were on display, demonstrating how partnership can help identify gaps, improve communication and support services that are more accessible, responsive and aligned with what matters to people.

The conference explored how partnership can be further strengthened through investment in capacity, leadership and culture, alongside a national policy framework and sustained support.

See hsepartnershiphub.ie and hsepatientconference.ie for more information.