Niall Halliday: Building a connected future for healthcare

Digital transformation is helping to change how healthcare information is accessed and shared, supporting staff to deliver more connected care for patients.

In the latest episode of Transforming Healthcare – People Behind the Progress, Joyce Shaw spoke with Niall Halliday, Clinical Operations Lead with the MyHealth@IE Programme, about the work underway to improve access to healthcare information, the importance of collaboration and how digital tools are already supporting staff in their day-to-day work.

From clinical practice to digital transformation

Niall's career has taken him from engineering and telecommunications to physiotherapy and digital health. After working as a physiotherapist for around 15 years, he moved into digital transformation with the former RCSI Hospital Group and has since held a number of digital health roles, including National Health and Social Care Professional (HSCP) Information Officer.

As Clinical Operations Lead with MyHealth@IE, he works across clinical, operational and technical teams, providing guidance and supporting engagement, implementation and clinical safety.

The MyHealth@IE Programme aims to enable the sharing of a standardised, interoperable digital health record for both healthcare staff and citizens, nationally and across borders. The programme encompasses the HSE Shared Care Record, HSE Health App and National Contact Point for eHealth, with a vision of enhancing the staff and patient experience by improving decision-making capabilities and self-management of healthcare.

A key part of this work is the HSE Shared Care Record, which gives authorised healthcare staff secure read only access to key patient information from different care settings, including hospital, primary care, community services and eventually, private healthcare providers. .

For Niall, this is a long-term investment in the future of healthcare.

Working together to deliver digital change

Collaboration between clinical, operational and technology teams is central to delivering digital transformation.

Throughout the interview, Niall highlighted how closely these teams work together, from technical development and clinical safety to communications, engagement and implementation.

This approach has supported progress across the MyHealth@IE Programme, including three releases of the HSE Shared Care Record, with a fourth planned for November, and the continued development of the HSE Health App.

At the time of the interview, the programme was working towards 15 datasets available through the HSE Shared Care Record by the end of the year.

The progress reflects the importance of bringing different perspectives together to develop digital tools that support healthcare delivery.

How the HSE Shared Care Record is helping staff

During the interview, Niall shared examples of how the HSE Shared Care Record is already supporting healthcare staff in their day-to-day work.

In one case, a HSCP who typically wouldn’t have access to scheduling information, was able to use the SCR to view details of their patient's appointments which were scheduled in another healthcare setting and specialty. This allowed them to adjust future appointments to better align with the patient's care journey.

He also highlighted feedback from anurse working in cardiac rehabilitation who uses the HSE Shared Care Record almost daily to access appointments, discharge summaries and laboratory reports.

Having this information available helps her save time, and communicate more efficiently with other healthcare professionals involved in a patient's care, supports decision-making and improves her engagement with patients attending the service.

These examples highlight the practical benefits of having relevant information available when and where it is needed.

Helping staff develop digital skills

Building staff confidence and competence in use of the SCR is another important part of introducing new digital tools and supporting their adoption into clinical workflows and ways of working.

For the HSE Shared Care Record, staff complete approximately 45 minutes of training, covering it’s terms of use, how to use the system and the clinical safety considerations involved.

Niall also highlighted the HSE Digital Health Learning Passport as a valuable resource for staff developing their digital knowledge. It includes learning in areas such as data quality, artificial intelligence, digital clinical safety, workflows and virtual health.

These resources help staff understand digital health concepts and how they relate to their work, while providing opportunities to develop skills as digital healthcare continues to evolve.

Building for the future

Looking ahead, Niall sees the availability of the HSE Health App and HSE Shared Care Record as an important foundationfor further digital transformation.

Both tools are already live and available to relevant staff and citizens, providing a foundation for future developments and supporting the wider journey towards a One Health Record.

He also highlighted the experience and commitment of the teams involved, recognising their role in delivering tools that can make a meaningful difference.

Niall encouraged staff and patients to get involved, use the tools available and share their feedback so that digital services can continue to develop around the people who use them.

Watch the full interview with Niall Halliday as part of Transforming Healthcare – People Behind the Progress to hear more about MyHealth@IE, the HSE Shared Care Record and the people supporting digital transformation across the HSE.