Our HealthTech Ireland Leadership Forum took place on 10th May. As part of our strategic partnership with the RCSI we were delighted to be invited by Aíne Gibbons, Director of Development RCSI, to hold this meeting in their historic and beautiful College Hall on St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin. Our day started with a brief meeting of old and new members of our Health Tech Ireland Leadership Forum where our CEO, Susan, and our new Chairman, Enda, updated all on the focus on Health Tech Ireland for the year ahead, emphasising the importance and opportunity for our members to contribute in our various workstreams. This was followed by the main session for the day, the theme of which was Healthcare Transformation: Insights from across healthcare. The format of this session proved very successful with 10 stakeholders from across the health system sharing their insights to a very full room on how they were working to improve the quality of healthcare. What was very useful was the diverse range of experts, all sharing their unique insights, However, one thing very evident was the consistent emphasis on innovation and transformation by all speakers, showing the appetite and drive by all to effect real meaningful change in our health system. The range of collaborative initiatives involving the public and private health systems, academia and digital innovation hubs was very impressive. We were joined on the day by colleagues from the Texas Medical Centre (the world’s largest medical city) who were on a visit to Ireland and who shared some thoughts on their strategy and model. The format for the day also included a great networking session over lunch, providing us with an opportunity to meet up with other HealthTech Ireland members and to speak with the presenters. The day was finished off with a presentation from Gary Boyle, who shared his story of his life living with Parkinson’s Disease – a very powerful talk from a truly inspirational person. The feedback from those attending was very positive and I would encourage all to engage in future Health Tech Ireland Leadership Forum. Those involved in sharing their insights were: Clare Harney, RCSI, Yvonne Goff, HSE National Director of Change and Innovation, Martin Curley, Director, Digital Transformation and Open Innovation at HSE, Orla Veale, the office of St. James’s CEO Natalie Cole – Director TUHKatrin Ostwald, WifORK at English – Convene
Jim Dowdall, Director, Health Tech Ireland.