The HSE’s first-ever CIO Richard Corbridge looks back on his first year driving the digital transformation of the Irish healthcare system.

To mark the first anniversary of eHealth Ireland, the HSE held a special showcase at Temple Street Children’s University Hospital in Dublin to highlight solutions devised, designed and implemented by the staff at Irish hospitals.

Corbridge introduced a number of the technology-enabled solutions as part of the Showcase, including: Temple Street Children’s University Hospital’s Electronic Health Record Portal, the National Epilepsy Electronic Patient Record and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin’s ePharmacy solution set, including hospital based ePrescribing.

The showcase also highlighted three key lighthouse projects devised by eHealth Ireland targeting epilepsy, bipolar disorder and haemophilia.

At the event, the Health Minister Leo Varadkar TD revealed he has increased the ICT budget for the HSE by 40pc to €55m.

“I want ambulance paramedics to be able to access patient records electronically from the moment they get to the patient or even before,” Varadkar said.

“I want every GP enabled to refer patients to specialists online and I want every radiology and laboratory system able to talk to each other so that test results can be accessed easily and do not have to be repeated unnecessarily. We have plans to do all of this in the years ahead but we can only afford to do so if we keep the recovery going and the economy strong.”

Words by John Kennedy