The Council meets in the Health Sector in order to make decisions on common policies and approaches in areas such as accident and emergency planning, co-operation on high technology equipment, cancer research and health promotion.
The current work programme includes:
Theme 1 - Acute Services
Cancer (Services / Research)
Progress the successful revision and update of the Service Level Agreement on the Radiotherapy Unit at Altnagelvin.
Further collaboration on services provided through the North-West Cancer Centre.
Continue to support ongoing collaboration efforts to improve cancer research and clinical trials at all-island scale.
Explore the potential to develop projects to improve specialist / rare cancer services for patients across both jurisdictions under the auspices of all island and cross border funding opportunities.
Paediatric Services
Support the work of the All-Island Congenital Heart Disease Network.
Explore potential for further North-/South cooperation on specialist paediatric services that lend themselves to all-island approaches
Facilitate information and experience sharing, where appropriate, between the Children’s Hospitals in Dublin and Belfast.
Other Specialist Medical Care
Explore opportunities for cooperation in organ donation and in organ transplantation on an all-island basis.
Investigate potential pathways for all-island provision of specialised burns treatment.
Theme 2 - Health Inequities and Population Health
Health Inequalities
Explore the potential to develop joint actions to address health inequalities.
Public Health Coordination
Work together on health and wellbeing promotion.
Development of all-island messaging on health campaigns, through exchange of best practices and lessons learned in health campaigns and policy development relating to health and wellbeing, such as obesity and breastfeeding.
Emergency Planning and Cross-Border Emergency Response
Maintain close collaboration between the two Chief Medical Officers and respective policy teams, including regular meetings, and continue information sharing for collaborative action on health threats and pandemic planning.
Continue collaboration on the ‘One Health’ approach.
Support collaboration between the National Ambulance Service and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service in further developing mutual co-operation in emergency response and planning for cross-border urgent or emergency ambulance calls and major incidents.
Cooperate on monitoring the prevalence and impact of cross-border social media mis- and disinformation flows, as they relate to public health issues of concern within either jurisdiction.
Mental Health (Suicide Awareness, Reduction and Prevention)
Exchange information and expertise on improving mental health, suicide prevention, meeting mental health needs, including on the potential for shared learning and cooperation in the development and delivery of Digital Mental Health offerings and in relation to dual diagnosis.
Biodiversity
Scope opportunities for the health sector to promote the physical and mental health co-benefits of actions to support biodiversity and address climate change.
Theme 3 - The Future of Healthcare
Digital and Data
Share knowledge and experiences in relation to the deployment of electronic health record systems and initiatives related to empowering patients through digital technology, such as patient apps, virtual care initiatives and e-health literacy initiatives.
Genetics and Genomics
Explore opportunities for cooperation on genetics and genomics to improve the lives of patients and families with, or at risk of, rare diseases, cancers and other conditions
Take advantage of our unique island-wide skill-base to advance research, discovery, innovation and implementation.
Work together in the context of the '1+ Million Genomes' initiative and within the wider ‘Genome of Europe’ project.
Health Workforce Planning
Anticipating future healthcare workforce needs of both jurisdictions and supplying the necessary skills for health and social care for the island of Ireland.
You can view Health Sector Joint Communiques in the Publications section.