CAWT Press Release

23 Nov 2015

Cross border Nursing Award for HSE North West and Western Health and Social Care Trust collaboration

A Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland collaboration, the ‘Cross Border Senior Nurses and Midwives Forum,’ has been announced as winners of the Chief Nursing Officers' Award for Excellence in Cross Border Nursing for 2015.

The winner was announced at the annual All-Ireland Chief Nursing Officers’ Conference which was held in Belfast on Wednesday 18 Nov 2015.The Award is sponsored by Co-operation and Working Together (CAWT), the cross border health service partnership, and recognises innovation and excellence in patient care, either within the border region or on an all-Island basis.

Anne Gallen, Director of Nursing at the HSE and Alan Corry Finn Director of Nursing at the Western Health and Social Care Trust established the cross border Forum in 2013, after both agreed that there were mutual benefits to be gained by co-operating and collaborating on a more formal basis. Consequently, both Directors set up the Cross Border Senior Nurses and Midwives Forum which has been actively progressing initiatives and sharing practice.

Dept of Health Chief Nursing Officer, Dr Siobhan O’Halloran and DHSSPS (NI) Chief Nursing Officer, Charlotte McArdle presented the Award trophy on behalf of CAWT. The Award winner also received a £1,000 bursary from CAWT to utilise for professional development activities.

Alan Corry Finn from the Western Health and Social Care Trust said: “I am honoured and delighted to receive this award on behalf of all the nurses and midwives involved in our cross border Forum. Given the close proximity of our health and social care services to each other in the NW border region, it makes sense for us to collaborate and learn from each other. The overall objective of the Forum is to deliver safe patient care and also improve services though cross border co-operation. In addition to addressing cross border professional issues and engaging in educational, training and research activities, we are also contributing to the development of cross border and all-island health and social care services and initiatives. We will continue to meet and further develop our activities for the benefit of patients and the services”

Anne Gallen from the HSE North West said: “This Award is a fantastic acknowledgement of the expertise and commitment of those who have been actively participating in the Forum. The catalyst for the Forum’s establishment was the fact that even though nurses and midwives work only 20 miles apart in two separate healthcare systems, we very rarely made contact with each other. It is really only in a crisis situation that we call upon each other for assistance. However, through the Forum we have been meeting regularly for the past two years and we are addressing a range of common challenges including enhancement of dementia care, tissue viability care, end of life care, care in the community to include children with life limiting conditions, and care for older people.”

Commenting CAWT’s Deputy Chief Officer Edel O’Doherty said, “Both Alan and Anne are truly worthy recipients of this CAWT excellence in cross border nursing award for their sterling work in establishing the Forum with a view to ensuring that patients from both sides of the border receive the best care possible from nursing and midwifery staff.I look forward to this cross border initiative going from strength to strength.”

-Ends-

Photo caption

CAWT Award photo 2015: Excellence in Cross Border Nursing Award winners receiving their CAWT trophy (from left): Edel O’Doherty, Deputy Chief Officer, CAWT; Dr Siobhan O’Halloran, Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health, Ireland; Alan Corry-Finn, Director of Nursing, Western Health and Social Care Trust; Anne Gallen, Director of Nursing, HSE North West and Charlotte McArdle, Chief Nursing Officer, DHSSPS Northern Ireland

Notes to Editor

  1. The All-Ireland Chief Nursing Officers’ Conference on 18 Nov 2015 in Belfast was jointly hosted by Charlotte McArdle, Chief Nursing Officer, DHSSPS Northern Ireland and Dr Siobhan O’Halloran, Chief Nursing Officer at the Department of Health.

The theme of the conference was ‘Leading and Shaping the Nursing & Midwifery Agenda – an all-island approach’

  1. Those eligible for the Chief Nursing Officers' Award for Excellence in Cross Border Nursing included nursing staff registered to practice and working within the Republic of Ireland and/or the UK/Northern Ireland.
  1. The CAWT Partnership has recently delivered services for patients and clients worth €30 million in investment value in the border region. CAWT is a cross border health and social care partnership comprising the Southern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts, the Health and Social Care Board and the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland and the border counties of the Health Service Executive (HSE) in the Republic of Ireland.