HEALTH SERVICE staff who came up with novel ways of tackling waiting lists and educating diabetic patients about proper eating habits despite a shortage of dietitians were yesterday rewarded for their efforts.
The national achievement awards were presented by the chief executive of the HSE Prof Brendan Drumm and Minister of State at the Department of Health Pat "the Cope" Gallagher at a ceremony in Dublin's Mansion House.
The overall award went to staff in the HSE's community nutrition and dietetic service in Killarney who devised a group education programme for diabetic patients which is now to be rolled out nationally.
The staff devised a group education programme which was run as a pilot scheme for 48 patients in Charleville, Mallow and Skibbereen in 2006.
The scheme provided advice on diet and lifestyle for people with diabetes, and was developed because of a shortage of community dieticians available to GPs in Cork and Kerry.
The staff said education on diet and lifestyle should be the first line of treatment for people with diabetes. They also said that all patients should have access to a qualified dietician.
After six months the patients had on average lost 2½kgs each, consumption of fruit among participants almost doubled from 33 per cent to 63 per cent and 90 per cent of the patients felt they had became healthier as a result of the intervention.
Another award went to staff at Dublin's St Vincent's hospital who came up with an innovative way to reduce long waiting times in the neurology department.
Due to better co-operation between staff, within a year the waiting list was reduced from 18 months to less than 10 weeks.
As a consequence the numbers of neurology patients seen every year in outpatients has gone from under 3,000 to over 5,000. In addition the number of neurology patients who now need to be referred to the hospital's emergency department has reduced. Neurology admissions have also been reduced.
Awards also went to Sligo General Hospital for a new waste handling system, to Galway's University College Hospital for a number of equality and diversity initiatives, and to Cork University Hospital for setting up clinics led by radiation therapists to review side effects of radiation therapy.
This has reduced the workload on the medical team by 40 per cent.
A special leadership award went to Helen Harney from Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, for establishing the State's first Heart Safe School, where over 200 students and 81 teachers have been trained in resuscitation techniques.