JOINT IHEEM NI AND ROI 2022 CONFERENCE
Professional determination Expressing his condolences to any attendees who had suffered loss during the pandemic, Paul Fenton said that as the EFM community ‘stepped out of the darkness of the last few years, and into the sunlight’, it was events like this which brought such professionals together. He encouraged delegates to take time over the two days to ‘speak to the partners we work so closely with’, by visiting the stands in the exhibition. In closing, he said: “It’s great to be doing this in person, and a warm welcome to Dublin. Let’s hope we can do this for many years to come, as Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland join together to offer fabulous events like this.”
‘A long time coming’ Here he handed over to Bill O’Reilly, who told delegates: “As Chairman of the Republic of Ireland branch, I’m very pleased to welcome you today. It’s been a long time coming; it was meant to be the IHEEM All-Ireland Conference 2020 – and then we all know what happened. What an extraordinary last few years we have all had; I’m sure there’s a million stories in the room we could tell, but we’re here, and I’d like to thank Croke Park for their patience over the dates that we committed to, changed, and then recommitted to; they have been fantastic.” He continued: “The conference represents the largest event for healthcare engineering on the island of Ireland, and we’re delighted to be partners with the Northern Irish Branch in hosting it.” ‘A lot of passion’ had gone into
developing the event. Bill O’Reilly said: “Today represents a coming together on several levels – one of these is between the public and private sectors. Hospitals are designed, built, and increasingly managed, by the private sector, and as such it plays a huge role in the delivery of healthcare. An objective of this conference is to create the dynamic of interaction between both sectors, whereby goods, services, and new technology can be displayed, examined, and discussed, so I hope the format achieves that, and I’d encourage you to interact with all of the exhibitors, who have put considerable effort into getting here today and being able to show their wares.”
A large international institute The ROI Branch Chair added: “I’d also like to welcome our speakers. IHEEM is a large international institute, but fundamentally is a community of engineering and
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healthcare professionals who come together to support each other. This joint conference reflects the understanding that we can share knowledge and experiences to others’ benefit. It’s in this context that the speakers presenting over the next two days will share their specialist knowledge with us, and I thank them for their participation. The next few days will be an opportunity to learn, to greet old colleagues we may not have seen for a while, and to make new contacts. So, the best of luck to you and your endeavours at the conference, and I sincerely hope you get from it the experience that you hope.” At this point, he introduced the first keynote speaker, Dean Sullivan, the Deputy CEO and Chief Strategy Officer for the HSE, who Bill O’Reilly explained would be presenting via videolink. The HSE speaker began by telling
delegates: “I’m the Chief Strategy Officer within the HSE – a very large healthcare organisation with an annual revenue budget of over €20 bn, an annual capital budget of over €1 bn, and well over 100,000 staff. From an Estates standpoint, we have 4,500 buildings across 2,500 sites.”
Impact on the environment As Chief Strategy Officer, Dean Sullivan said his responsibilities included ‘the whole property and estates agenda’, but also responsibility for leading and coordinating the organisation’s response to climate change and the sustainability agenda. While providing high quality care was ‘a core HSE value’, the Executive recognised that in doing so, it had an impact on the environment, ‘both negatively and positively’. The speaker said: “The WHO advises us that climate change is the single biggest health threat facing humanity and health professionals across the world. From a health perspective, climate change is a symptom, while the disease is the harm we’re doing to the planet and its ecosystems. To treat the symptom, we must tackle the disease – primarily the burning of fossil fuels, pollution, and the loss of biodiversity across the planet.” Were the planet a patient, Dean Sullivan said ‘its vital signs would tell us we need to act immediately to save it’. Increased CO2
levels, global temperature rises,
increased sea levels, and loss of Arctic sea ice, were all telling us there is something wrong, and that we need to take action. He said: “Crucially for the health service, climate change is not only making the
Dean Sullivan: “It’s our intention that the HSE will inspire the necessary climate actions – across all aspects of its operations and in wider society – to achieve the Government’s very challenging targets for 2030 and 2050”
planet sick; it’s affecting human health.” In Ireland, the main impacts on health were likely to include rises in heatwave-related deaths, skin cancers, and the frequency of respiratory diseases, and increases in storm-related health impacts, causing injury, but also disruption to essential healthcare and emergency services.
Putting Ireland on a more sustainable path
In this context, the Irish Government’s Climate Action Plan 2021 had set out ‘an ambitious plan to put Ireland on a more sustainable path, cutting emissions, and creating a greener economy and society’. Dean Sullivan explained: “The targets set out in the Plan are for Scope One direct emissions from owned or directly controlled sources on site, and Scope 2 indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy – in particular electricity.” The Plan included a specific ‘Public
sector leading by example’ chapter, with the expectation that the public sector will show leadership in this area, and seek to go beyond the minimum statutory requirements to show progress in the period to 2031 in relation to Scope Three, which Dean Sullivan said was ‘picking up all other indirect emissions that occur introducing and transporting goods and services, including the full supply chain’. “It’s our intention,” he added, “that the HSE will inspire the necessary climate actions – across all aspects of its operations and in wider society – to achieve the Government’s very challenging targets for 2030 and 2050. These targets set – for 2030 – a 50% improvement in energy efficiency, a 51% reduction in greenhouse gases, and the need for all public buildings to have an energy rating of at least ‘B’, while for 2050, the target is to achieve a Net Zero carbon emissions position.”
Need for ‘a radically different approach’ Achieving these targets would require ‘a radically different approach to the development of the HSE’s estate going forward, as part of a wider organisational response to the climate emergency that we’re all facing’. He said: “As I look at the agenda for today, and the attendance at this conference, I’m happy to see the interest and enthusiasm of colleagues, and would particularly like to thank our National Director of Capital & Estates within the HSE, Paul De Freine, and the HSE’s National Lead for Capital and Estates on Climate Action and Sustainability, Peter Smyth, and his team of Energy Officers, for the proactive approach they have taken in this area, and the gains they have already made.”
Climate Action & Sustainability Strategy Dean Sullivan explained that the HSE’s Executive Management team, with the
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