SLHW Director Of Nursing, Mobile Vaccination Service

Location of Post

HSE West and North West Health Region - postholder will be located in the North West and will be based in either Letterkenny or Sligo HSE Offices.The specified location to be agreed on appointment.

A panel may be formed as a result of this campaign for the Director of Nursing (Band 2), Immunisation/Vaccination Programme from which current and future, permanent and specified purpose vacancies of full or part-time duration may be filled.

There is currently one permanent wholetime vacancy within the service.

The health regions implementation programme may impact on this role, and as structures change, the job specification may be reviewed

Informal Enquiries

Dr Aine Mc Namara, Regional Director of Public Health, HSE West and North West Health Region

E:mail: aine.mcnamara@hse.ie

Phone: 091 775 200

Details of Service

HSE West and North West is responsible for the provision of all acute and community services across the 6 counties of Galway, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal and is operationally divided into 4 Integrated Health Areas (IHAs) – Galway/Roscommon IHA, Mayo IHA, Sligo/Leitrim/West Cavan/South Donegal IHA and Donegal IHA, each managed by an Integrated Health Area (IHA) Manager.

The HSE West and North West Health Region serves a population of nearly 800,000 providing health and social care services to communities living within the West and North West Health Region.

The region has 4 Integrated Health Areas (IHAs), serving a population each of between 110,000 -200,000. The IHA areas are Donegal, Sligo/ Leitrim/, South Donegal/ West Cavan, Mayo and Galway/Rocommon. IHAs bring together both acute and community services as well as other non-HSE providers and are crucial to supporting and enabling integrated care.

The HSE West and North West (WNW) Region has 15 Community Health Areas(CHAs) of which 6 are in the North West. The CHAs are the local operational units for delivering primary and community care services across the 6 counties, aiming to organise care around population needs with integrated teams for better local access. These networks focus on connecting GPs, community teams, and specialist services within defined geographic areas. Within the 4 Integrated Health Areas there are 7 acute hospital (model 4 and 3s) delivering a full range of acute hospital, women and children’s services, in addition to specialised radiation and oncology care.

Governance of Vaccines

In the new Region Health structure, Regional Executive Officers (REOs) are accountable and responsible for the health of their populations via operational service delivery in their respective regions. In relation to immunisations, the REOs are supported by the The National Immunisation Office (NIO) the National Access and Integration division, Public Health and National Schemes.

The HSE currently delivers immunisation initiatives through multiple pathways.

Note: A review is due to commence to review the vaccination governance and delivery structures to ensure they are fit for purpose and delver an integrated immunisation service. It is envisaged that all immunisation services may ultimately be under the governance of one service.While waiting for this review to be finalised Regional Immunisation committees have been established to provide oversight for the delivery and uptake of immunisation programmes

Regional Public Health service structures

The HSE’s Public Health Service protects and promotes the health of the Irish population, contributes effectively to major service design and policy implementation, strives to address health inequalities, and ensures a population needs based approach to integrated healthcare delivery. The Public Health Service has undergone a programme of strategic structural reform to implement a new, consultant-delivered service delivery model aligned to international best practice

The HSE’s Public Health Service is provided through six Departments of Public Health. Each Department of Public Health is led by a Regional Director of Public Health, assisted by Consultants in Public Health Medicine and a multidisciplinary team. Public health working across the domains of health service improvement, health protection, health improvement and health intelligence, aims to prevent disease and improve health-related outcomes through the design, utilisation and evaluation of effective and efficient healthcare interventions including review of access and pathways of care. Such work will include population health needs assessment, population focused health service prioritisation, health service co-design/re-design (ie. Models of Care), and health service implementation (including Education & Training, Monitoring and Evaluation). Public Health Programmes will be organised to support Integrated Care Programmes for population cohorts and priority populations

An important role of Departments of Public Health is to implement the Medical Officer of Health (MOH) legislation. Specifically, they have the responsibility and authority to investigate and control notifiable infectious diseases and outbreaks, under the Health Acts 1947 and 1953; Infectious Disease Regulations 1981 and subsequent amendments to these regulations. Also, the Health (Duties of Officers) Order, 1949 describes the additional health protection responsibilities. The Departments provide expertise, advice and support, to internal (National, Hospital, pre-hospital and Community Services) and external partners (e.g. Environmental Protection Agency, Irish Water, Port Authorities Local Authorities etc.). The Departments also provide advice to the general public, and a range of local partners, organisations and services within the respective areas.

Mobile Vaccination Services

Mobile Vaccination Services (MVS) provided by Mobile Vaccination Teams (MVTs) are a key component in the delivery of the country’s immunisation programmes. The primary goal of MVTs is to increase vaccine uptake across all age groups and all communities through the delivery of nationally agreed immunisation programmes. The governance of MVTs is due to transition from Health and Wellbeing into Public Health in March 2026.

To enhance accessibility, MVTs deliver vaccines directly in community settings. This includes setting up temporary clinics in residential care facilities, congregated settings for refugees and asylum seekers, as well as delivering key immunisation programmes in rural areas where access to healthcare services may be more challenging.

The MVT is a multiprofessional workforce who work collaboratively with key services such as General Practitioners, community pharmacies, community and hospital services and local public health teams to facilitate the successful role out of these programmes to the targeted population who fall under the eligibility criteria.

They also contribute to national data collection efforts through the National Immunisation Information System (NIIS), helping to monitor coverage and identify areas where further intervention is needed.