Ireland’s first Framework for Health Innovation

The HSE Framework for Health Innovation marks a significant milestone, not just for the HSE, but for everyone working in and with Ireland's health and social care system. For the first time, every staff member, every region and every partner organisation have a shared innovation roadmap built with them.

What the Framework is and why it matters:

The HSE Framework for Health Innovation is a practical guide that addresses one of the most persistent frustrations in our health system:

At its core, it provides four interconnected things:

• A shared national vision for innovation, giving clarity and direction across every level of the health system.
• Proportionate governance, ensuring accountability without unnecessary bureaucracy, from frontline teams right through to national leadership.
• A structured innovation lifecycle, guiding ideas from exploration through testing, evaluation, scaling, and sustained adoption.
• A set of enabling principles spanning workforce capability, culture, partnerships, policy, and digital and data infrastructure that ensures innovation is intentional, responsible and embedded in everyday practice.

What makes this framework genuinely different is how it was developed. It reflects the perspectives and real-world experiences of innovation practitioners across all HSE health regions, academic institutions, and industry specialists. The voices of the Department of Health, Health Innovation Hub Ireland, HealthTech Ireland and IPPOSI are embedded throughout. This was a listening exercise, a co-design exercise and ultimately a trust exercise.

The Sláintecare Transformation and Innovation Office (STIO) contributed to facilitating and shaping that process, connecting the dots between national ambition and local reality, between policy intent and practical implementation.

What happens next:

Planning for implementation is already underway, and this is where the real work begins. In the months ahead, STIO will be focused on establishing governance structures at national, regional and local levels. Embedding the innovation lifecycle into organisational processes, building workforce capability and developing the digital and data enablers needed to support innovation at scale.

We also want to hear from colleagues across the system. If you are working on an innovation that has stalled, if you have an idea, you do not know how to progress, or if you are already doing something brilliant that others should know about, please reach out to us at STIO@hse.ie. This framework exists to support you.

A word of thanks:

None of this would have been possible without the generosity and commitment of the many colleagues, partners, and patients who gave their time and experience to shape this work. A particular acknowledgement to Damien McCallion (CTTO and HSE Deputy CEO), Dr. Colm Henry (CCO) who jointly commissioned the framework, Prof. Richard Greene (CCIO) and Loretto Grogan (CNMIO) for their leadership, support and expertise throughout the process.