Respiratory Physiologist, Chief, University Hospital

University Hospital Kerry (UHK) is a secondary referral and teaching hospital that provides comprehensive medical and surgical services both for adults and children in the surrounding catchment area of approximately 150,000 populations. UHK was designed and built in the 1980’s. In UHK the needs of the patient is centre stage and UHK management recognises the relationship between Nurse staffing arrangements and patient outcomes. Research and health inquiry reports provide valuable lessons. They point to the equal importance and impact of ensuring the right mix of skills and knowledge, strong clinical leadership and a healthy culture within a hospital. University Hospital Kerry has:

o 24/7 Emergency Department

o 76 Bed Acute Medicine (including 4 Bed Acute Stroke Unit)

o 8 Bed Acute Medical Assessment Unit

o 18 Bed Surgical Day Ward

o 5 Bed Intensive Care Unit

o 4 Bed Coronary Care / High Dependency Unit

o 38 Bed Maternity Unit

o 10 Cot Special Care Baby Unit

o 29 Paediatric Beds

o 5 Operating Theatres

o 11 Bed Endoscopy Day Unit

o 13 Bed Oncology Day Ward

o 12 Bed Dialysis Unit

o 15 Bed Inpatient Palliative Care Unit

In line with Sláintecare (2017) and the Department of Health’s Capacity review (2018), a shift in healthcare service provision is now required to place the focus on integrated, person-centred care, based as close to home as possible. In order to enable this, the Integrated Care Programme for the Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease (ICPCD) is supporting the national implementation of a model of integrated care for the prevention and management of chronic disease as part of the Enhanced Community Care Programme (ECC). The Model of Care for the Integrated Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease has a particular focus on preventive healthcare, early diagnosis, early intervention and the provision of supports to live well with chronic disease. The focus of the Model of Integrated Care for the Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease is on providing an end-to-end pathway for the management of the four major chronic diseases in Ireland: COPD, asthma, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. This end-to-end pathway will reduce admissions to acute hospitals by providing direct GP access to diagnostics and specialist services in the ambulatory care hubs in a timely manner. For patients who require hospital admission, the emphasis is on minimising the hospital length of stay, with the provision of post-discharge follow up and support for people in the community and in their own homes, where required. A shared local governance structure across the local acute hospitals and Cork Kerry Community Healthcare will ensure the development of a fully integrated service and end-to-end pathway for individuals living with chronic disease.

The post holder will be supporting the delivery of the integrated Respiratory Care across acute and community.

Purpose of the Post

The purpose of the post is to be responsible for the management and provision of a high quality integrated patient focused respiratory service as part of the respiratory MDT in both the acute hospital setting in UHK and in the Chronic Disease Hub.