Bons & ITT in research partnership
THE Bon Secours Hospital in Tralee and Institute of Technology Tralee have formalised a new €400,000 research partnership.
At a ceremony at the hospital on Thursday, ITT President Oliver Murphy and Bon Secours Tralee Hospital Manager TJ O’Connor signed a memorandum of understanding to copper fasten the enhanced partnership between the tow institutions.
The deal also marks ITT’s first collaboration with Limerick based software research centre Lero which is backed by Science Foundation Ireland and brings together leading software research teams from universities and ITs to conduct co-ordinated research with a strong industry focus.
IT Tralee is the ninth institute to join the Lero initiative.
The research partnership between Bon Secours and IT Tralee will see three post grad STEM students spend three years analysing procedures for bed management and theatre scheduling.
This analysis will then be used to pilot new intelligent systems to improve patient the flow of patients though beds and operating theatres.
If successful, this will then be rolled out across the other four hospitals in the Bon Secours group.
“Efficient resource management, particularly bed management is a critical issue right across the Irish health sector. Clever use of technology, such as the implementation of systems of this type can result in the efficient use of beds across the health system without major capital spending,” said Lero Principal Investigator at ITT Dr Joseph Walsh.
To date the long running partnership arrangement between Bon Secours Tralee and ITT has seen hundreds of ITT nursing students undertake internships at the hospital.
The new enhanced partnership will now also see ITT students from other disciplines such as accounting, media and catering offered internship roles at Bon Secours Tralee. THE newly reopened Hibernian Bar in Ballybunion opens its doors to all from near and far on Sunday next, October 29, as it hosts an afternoon tea dance.
“Everyone is invited to come along for a great afternoon’s fun and dancing between 2.30pm and 5.30pm,” organiser Margaret Hayes said. A SIX week ‘ Aware Life Skills’ programme will be starting in Kerry next month with the aim of providing support, education and information services around depression and bi-polar disorder.
Starting on November 9 in the Dromhall Hotel in Killarney, the course will teach attendees how to recognise and manage unhelpful thoughts and learn new ways of thinking.
Online registration for the programme is now open and places are available to anyone over age 18; the programme is free to attend with a €30 refundable deposit required.
To register, visit https://ti/ to/Aware/life-skills-group-programme