Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine - St Vincent's ...

St.Vincent’s Healthcare Group
Department of
P reventive Medicine and
Health Pro m o t i o n
SVUH was a winner in Hospital Challenge Day 2003, a
European Health Promoting Hospital focus on exercise.
In-house health promotion training sessions were presented to
departments,which are now included in medical interns and
general staff induction programmes.
Other events
A stop smoking course was provided for staff of the Dept.of
Health,at its request.
Smoking awareness stands were provided at the UCD General
and Medical Open Days and at the Special Olympics.
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Staff
Professor Cecily Kelleher (Head of Department)
MD, FRCPI,MPH,FFPHM,MFPHMI
Dr. Anna Clarke
LRCP&SI,MB, MPH,FRCPI,FFPHMI,FFPH
Health Promotion Coordinator
Ms.Denise Comerford RGN,RM
Secretary
Ms.Frances Conlan
Health Promotion Officer
Ms.Kirsten Doherty BSc, MPH
Ms.Catherine Duane RGN,
BSc, BA,MSc, M.Phil,H.Dip. Psychology (until July 2003)
Ms.Hilda Gallagher RGN,RM
Ms.E.McIntyre RGN,RSCN,H.Dip
Health Promotion (from September 2003)
Ms.Carol Pye RGN,RM
Ms.Brenda Whiteside RGN,RM
Health Promotion Nurse
Ms.Veronica O’Neill RGN,RM
Clinical Specialist Dietitian
Ms.Vivien Reid MSc, Dip Diet.
(Clinical Specialist Dietitian)
Allied UCD staff
Professor Leslie Daly, MSc, PhD, FFPH
Dr. Dominique Crowley
MB, MPH,MFPHMI,MFPHM
Dr. Patricia Fitzpatrick MD, MPH,FRCPI,FFPHMI.
Professor Cecily Kelleher took up the post of Head of
Department during the year.
Allied Health Professional and Support Services
Cardiac Rehabilitation
The department’s support of cardiac rehabilitation continues.
The monthly cardiac lifestyle information session is co-ordinated
by staff in this department.
Smoking Cessation Services
These have continued to develop, with intensive interventions
for in-patients and out-patients,stop smoking courses,and a
weekly drop-in session. Patients are followed up by phone for a
year, for support and evaluation of the service. 521 patients
were referred for smoking cessation intervention in 2003,an
increase of 158% over 2002. A comprehensive database was
developed to allow detailed monitoring and evaluation of the
service. Staff education sessions took place at intern
orientation and staff induction days.
Smoking Cessation Research
A research programme is funded by the EU and the
Cardiovascular Health Strategy, including a study of 1100 inpatients,
followed up after six months to determine factors
related to success in smoking cessation post discharge.
An EU-funded reciprocal exchange visit took place between
staff of this hospital and Wishaw General Hospital,Lanarkshire.
Health Promotion Committee
Denise Comerford continued as secretary to this committee.
Service to Staff
"Healthwise SVUH" continued to be published quarterly and
was evaluated during the year. The contribution from staff
throughout the hospital is appreciated.
During ‘Focus on Fruit’ week,a quiz was distributed to staff to
raise their awareness of the National Healthy Eating campaign.
A fruit display was arranged by the Catering Department in the
restaurant each day and two fruit baskets were provided as
prizes. Staff were found to eat twice as much fruit as the
national average. The analysis by one of the medical students
will be peer published by the Nutrition Society.
Service to the Community
Education and Training Days
Training days for health professionals were run in conjunction
with other hospital departments. Topics were:
• Colorectal Cancer (x 1)
• Palliative Care (x 1)
• Literacy Awareness for Health Professionals (x 1)
• Oncology (x 2)
• Smoking Cessation - Theory & Practice (x3)
• Smoking Cessation - Interactive Listening Skills (x3)
Hospital Calendar 2003
The twelve health promotion posters produced by this
department were developed as the official hospital calendar for
2003.Six thousand were published and distributed to:
• All hospital staff
• Local health care providers
• All attendees at the National HPH meeting
• Nationwide through the Health Promotion Unit
Health Promoting Hospitals
St.Vincent’s University Hospital is one of over ninety hospitals
affiliated to the National Health Promoting Hospital (HPH)
Network. Denise Comerford and Dr Anna Clarke are
members of its National Executive and Scientific Committees.
Outstanding/Significant Achievements
Hilda Gallagher completed a Teaching and Assessing module in
UCD;and commenced a BSc in Nursing Management at the
RCSI as part of Continuing Professional Development.
Publications
Comerford D. Health Promotion Information Boards.
Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Health
Promotion Hospitals,Florence, May 2003
Clarke A.T. Health Promoting Hospitals in Ireland – statement or
reality? Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on
Health Promotion Hospitals,Florence, May 2003
Doherty K. Development of smoking cessation services – building
for evaluation. Proceedings of conference:‘Evidence Based
Practice: Measuring the success of Health Promotion’,NUI
Galway;June 2003
Comerford D. Evaluation of "Healthwise" – a Health Promotion
Newsletter for a large Dublin Teaching Hospital. Proceedings of
the 1st All Ireland Conference on Health Promoting Hospitals,
Cavan.November 2003
Clarke A.T. A Survey of Health Promoting Activities in Irish
Hospitals. Proceedings of the 1st All Ireland Conference on
Health Promoting Hospitals, Cavan.November 2003
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Service Developments/Achievements
Service to Patients
24 Hour Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring Service
This service to hospital consultants and general practitioners in
the catchment area was provided for 711 patients in 2003,an
increase of 31% on last year.
Smoking cessation support and free nicotine replacement
therapy are offered to staff,in conjunction with the Pharmacy
and Occupational Health Departments.
Health promotion information stands were provided,including
Cancer Awareness, co-ordinated by Divisional Nurse Manager
Tanya King,and Smoking Cessation,manned by the health
promotion team. A COPD awareness day with spirometry
testing was offered by the Pulmonary Department. Smoking
cessation information was available at this event.
Health Promotion Seminars for Transition Year Students
Six seminars were held,each attended by approximately 100
students. An Alcohol Awareness Seminar was developed in
conjunction with and presented by the Liver Unit N u rs e
Specialist with two sessions organised.