Marymount University Hospital & Hospice
Vision & Strategy
Marymount launched its seven-year strategy in June 2019, an ambitious but cost-effective plan to deliver excellence in caring for elderly and provision of Specialist Palliative Care Services to patients and families (Hospice).
Marymount’s Strategy Plan 2019-2025 has been endorsed by the HSE
A welcome address was given by Mr. Kieran Barry, the then Chairman of the Board of Directors (retired: November 2019) who stated “The economic case for investment in services for older people and for specialist palliative care is well established and this strategy has been formulated to address gaps in services and to excel in the services we provide.”
About Us
Our History & Care
Speaking at the launch the then Cork Kerry Community Healthcare/Health Service Executive Chief Officer, Ger Reaney said: “Marymount University Hospital & Hospice are a valued partner of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare in the delivery of palliative and older people services. We welcome the initiative of the Board in preparing a Strategy to plan for the increasing demographic needs of both of these groups.”
Marymount’s Chief Executive Officer, Sarah McCloskey said new evidence shows that palliative care is not only clinically effective and prolongs life, but is equally cost saving.
“Care for those with a life-limiting illness is known to account for a large proportion of health care resources. In the US they have estimated that 25% of all health care expenditure is related to persons in their last year of life. In the UK they have estimated that approximately 20% of acute hospital bed days are taken up by end of life care,” she said.
“Success in palliative care addresses access/equity; it focuses on quality of life alongside complex symptom management. We know we can deliver more services, we know that it is cost-effective for us to do more and we are acutely aware of the increasing demand for our services” Ms. McCloskey added.
Marymount has set its strategic vision to be a world-class leader in order to meet the needs of the people they serve and to lead research and education in this area. Marymount is the oldest and largest hospice in Ireland with a history of that reflects ambition and vision. Two of the consultants were uniquely trained by the founder of the hospice movement, Dame Cisely Saunders. They have gone on to influence practice nationally and internationally including current national policy (the National advisory report 2001), which was led by Marymount’s Professor Tony O’Brien.
“Ambition is known to lead to success and Marymount intends to achieve this,” said Ms. McCloskey.
Strategic Goals
Under the plan, Marymount has six key strategic goals.
Ensure the Financial Sustainability of its Services
Patients, residents, and their families are always at the centre of everything we do, and while we continually strive to deliver the highest quality care possible, the care model needs to be financially sustainable. Marymount is not fully state-funded and relies on other sources of funds, including fundraising, to maintain the current level of services provided. As well as funding the gap between operating expenses and secure sources of operating income, Marymount relies on fundraising to fund capital expenditure on replacing hospital assets (mainly clinical equipment) as they come to the end of their useful life, as well as spend on other assets designed to enhance the experience of service users.
Marymount is very appreciative of the fantastic ongoing support from the people of Cork, without which we would not be able to deliver the current quantum and quality of services.
Develop Specialist Palliative Care (SPC)
Marymount currently has 44 inpatient SPC beds, daycare service, and a current caseload in the community of 550 patients and families. Marymount will further enhance its community outreach work including outpatient work, bereavement/family supports and further develop the range of palliative care services for children.
Avoidable acute hospital readmissions have been described as a marker for poor quality care. There are now a number of studies that support that SPC improves patient outcomes, including expert symptom management, clear and well-communicated goals of care, more effective transitions to alternative places of care and reduced readmissions to acute hospitals. By investment in Marymount’s services for adults and children more patients will receive appropriate good quality care.
Deliver IT Strategy
Marymount have limited IT resourcing and infrastructure due to limited resourcing. But its importance and its potential is enormous in our environment. Health care technologies have the capacity to enable safer practice, e.g. through E prescribing, E-Health records, enabling better access, real-time data – cognisant that most of our service provision is offsite.
Employer of Choice
Marymount recognises the importance of health and wellbeing in the workplace. The team at Marymount are undoubtedly the most invaluable asset – they are a diverse and competent interdisciplinary team. Marymount will focus on the health and wellbeing of the staff and ensure they feel valued in their work. The work can be challenging and Marymount will enable positive staff outcomes and aim to prevent problems such as burnout. This will result in positive wellbeing, leadership at every level, positive engagement and a highly skilled and compassionate workforce to enable the best possible delivery of care.
Research and Education
Our clinical services are underpinned and completely integrated with research and education. We are the oldest training site in SPC for specialist medicine and provide interdisciplinary undergraduate and postgraduate placements. Marymount will further grow its education and research centre into a research and education institute, developing relationships further with academic partners, delivering a project for awareness and benefits of palliative care and engaging in collaborative, essential and ground-breaking research. Palliative care is a speciality that is under-researched; we owe it to the community and our patients to grow this body of knowledge further. Grants and funding opportunities to support this element of our business will be actively sought.
Optimise Older Persons Services
Marymount provides high quality inpatient services for older people evidenced by full HIQA compliance. Ireland faces the challenge of an increasing ageing population and this trend will continue with the anticipated growth in people over 65 years old expected to rise by almost 30% by 2021. Marymount will review alternative models of care provision for older people to seek opportunities to meet some of such increasing demands; including long term care models, palliative support beds, step down, convalescence and perhaps new emerging models. A review project will be undertaken scoping the potential to meet the needs of our older people and reviewing potential funding streams.