Innovation: The 2005 National Health Innovation Awards were launched last week by HSE interim chief executive Kevin Kelly.
The awards are designed to reward innovation in the health services, and are sponsored by the Health Service National Partnership Forum.
The awards are open to "entries from the countless committed staff across the health service who are entrepreneurial, innovative and achieving tremendous results in the services they provide".
The launch followed a series of talks and presentations, where previous winners shared details of their projects, and outlined the benefits their innovations had brought to clients and services.
The awards scheme was initiated in 2003 by the former Eastern Regional Health Authority and is now being extended nationally. The scheme was established in memory of the late Derek Dockery who, in his long career in the Irish health service, was a champion of quality and excellence.
Mr Kelly said the objective of the National Innovation Awards was to acknowledge the commitment, dedication and enormous contribution of healthcare staff towards improving the wellbeing of the population. "This awards scheme is a critical promoter of change, and leads to the emergence of new concepts and practices. This ensures people are valued and their needs prioritised," he added.
HSE Eastern Region chief executive officer Michael Lyons expressed his satisfaction that the scheme had resulted in over 80 innovations being recognised and adapted for use in other areas. While it had been a rewarding experience for the staff involved, the real beneficiaries had been the patients, clients and their families, Mr Lyonds added.
Details of the awards are available at www.erha.ie