The NCPS has been working with the Strategic Programmes Office to implement pathways in Urology, Otolaryngology, Plastic and General Surgery across the country. NCPS are delighted to report that they have secured over €8m to support over 80 new staff to establish three Urology and three Otolaryngology pathways nationally along with General and Plastic Surgery pathways.

The National Perioperative Patient Pathway Enhancement Programme (NPPPEP) is a collaborative between the HSE, RCSI National Clinical Programme for Surgery and the National Clinical Programme for Anaesthesia.

NQAIS Clinical is a valuable resource used by over 100 users in the healthcare system to extract data for hospitals each month recording activity and predicting future trends in the healthcare system. In addition researchers find it very useful with the wealth of data available over a number of years covering a wide range of diagnoses and procedures; their publications are available on the RCSI website.

The report proposed a new networked approach for emergency surgical care which would deliver a higher quality service to patients, preserve access across the country to senior surgical decision-makers, and create a working environment that is optimal for training, recruitment and retention of staff. 

In May 2023, the NCPS contributed to a conference focused on Creating the Workforce for New Surgical Hubs, in collaboration with RCSI and the Department of Health. The one-day conference took place on 4 May 2023 and was convened in response to the government’s confirmation of major investment in new surgical infrastructure, to include five surgical hubs and three elective hospitals.

In collaboration with HSE Acute Operations and the Healthcare Pricing Office, the NCPS launched the updated standards for Acute Surgical Assessment Units in Ireland on 28th June 2023 at the Healthcare Pricing Office’s annual Activity Based Funding Conference. The new update was coordinated by the ASAU Validation Review Board (VRB) and it supersedes the original edition, published in 2017.

In collaboration with the National Clinical Programmes for Anaesthesia and Trauma and Orthopaedics, the NCPS launched a new e-learning module for the five stages of safe surgery in June 2023.  

The Model of Care was a collaboration between the HSE and the RCSI, and outlines the service needs of the population for vascular surgery services and defines a model of care delivery that is accessible, timely and of high quality.

The Guidance for the Care of the Adult Patient with a Tracheostomy was officially launched at the Clinical Design and Innovation Programmes Day on 29^th November.