Strategic Direction of OLHSC

In accomplishing its vision, mission and values on behalf of the children who are referred to it, OLHSC will focus on seven areas of delivery:

The children and families served by OLHSC will receive a responsive service appropriate to their needs and with minimal disruption to their family life. We strive to put the family at the centre of all services.

Parents will receive information, support, guidance and training to empower them further, in their role as primary care givers. At all stages their child can experience a health care system where smooth transition occurs when transferred from one provider to another and where discharge home is expeditious.

Families will have readily available to them, information on services the hospital offers, information on paediatric health care, prevention of illness and health promotion.

OLHSC acknowledge that the quality of patient care is primarily dependent on qualified and motivated staff. The hospital will attract, support and seek to improve the strengths of the staff, whose teamwork and efforts assist OLHSC to achieve its goals in caring for the children and their families.

We work as a team at OLHSC - from the porter, household personnel, canteen staff, consultants, nurses and aides. We understand that having the right people, working well together in the right environment is fundamental to the continued success of our hospital.

OLHSC will continue to deliver a high quality of care in the services it provides to children and will always put our children and their families first. Acknowledging the importance of minimal hospitalisation in the child's life, we will work in partnership to develop shared health care with the child's local hospital and community. These initiatives will ensure that the lives of our patients and their families return to normal as soon as possible. The hospital will work with both primary and secondary care providers on issues of treatment, prevention and wellness of children.

OLHSC will continue to promote and protect the health of our children and also the health of our staff, through continuously improving the quality of our health care and the living and working conditions for all.

OLHSC will be an innovative organisation that leads and influences policy making, planning, development and delivery of paediatric health care.

OLHSC will incorporate new technologies and concepts of care to produce a children's hospital for now and the future.

OLHSC sees as immensely important its role in the provision of a national referral centre for children who are critically ill and those presenting with complex medical conditions.

The specialised care available at OLHSC imposes a duty upon the hospital to accept all seriously ill children from other Health Board areas when these are adjudged by their local services to require the tertiary care of OLHSC.

OLHSC, as both a local and tertiary referral centre, will play a lead role in the delivery of paediatric health care in Ireland, providing a service of excellence, reducing inequities and meeting the needs of the population it serves.

To encourage an effective National Paediatric Health Care System, OLHSC will create and preserve key relationships within and outside the hospital.

OLHSC will work with its stakeholders to achieve excellence in education, research and continuous learning.

The hospital will continue in its responsibility to develop the expertise of its subspeciality units thereby ensuring clinical services are provided in line with best international standards.