Planning In Ireland Research Articles

Methods for projecting health workforce planning in Ireland: a collaborative approach

Abstract Background Health workforce planning (HWFP) is the process of analysing, forecasting, and planning workforce supply and demand, assessing gaps, and determining target workforce to ensure that health systems are prepared for future demand. HWFP elicits recommendations that are ideally utilised by the health system to support medical workforce over a defined time. Methods The objective of this project is to inform intake for medical and surgical specialties in Ireland to reach the necessary consultant workforce by 2038. A literature search was conducted to help inform the methodology for this project. The most common approach was a needs-based model, and additional reviews discussed the integration of medical engagement into the modelling approach. Results This project will employ a collaborative approach, combining mathematical modelling and a combination of quantitative and qualitative inputs, including the following phases: 1. The research phase will estimate baseline supply and demand data across medical and surgical specialties in Ireland using statistical models; 2. The presentation phase will include input from clinical leads to allow for more accurate assumptions in the baseline of each model; 3. Review of projections will include feedback from the clinical leads to help clarify and improve the initial model; 4. Presentation of the revised projection will include further collaboration with clinical leads to finalise the model. Conclusions The robust methodology for this HWFP project will ideally inform medical and surgical specialities in Ireland through 2038. Specific and extensive predictions of health workforce supply and demand will enhance strategic preparation, which is a key priority for the Health Service Executive in Ireland. Key messages • A collaborative approach to HWFP is essential for health service preparation and improvement. • The project will be finalised by the end of 2024, and the methodology for conducting similar HWFP projects can be adapted by other EU states.

Bridging the gap between pregnancy loss research and policy and practice: insights from a qualitative survey with knowledge users

BackgroundThe loss of a pregnancy or the death of baby around the time of their birth can have profound impacts on parents, families and staff involved. There is much opportunity to enhance the systematic uptake of evidence-based interventions to enhance service provision, lived experiences and outcomes. Challenges exist to translating pregnancy loss research evidence into policy and practice, however. Pregnancy loss remains a neglected area of research and resourcing and is steeped in stigma. While barriers and facilitators to the use of research evidence by decision-makers in public health and health services are well documented, we aimed to better understand the factors that influence the translation of pregnancy loss research into practice and policy.MethodsWe conducted a qualitative online survey of pregnancy loss research knowledge users in Ireland, identified through our clinical and academic networks, between January and March 2022. The survey comprised ten questions, with three closed questions, informed by the Knowledge Translation Planning Template©. Questions included who could benefit from pregnancy loss research, perceived barriers and facilitators to the use of research evidence and preferred knowledge translation strategies. We analysed data using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsWe included data from 46 participants in our analysis, from which we generated two central themes. The first—‘End the silence; stigma and inequality around pregnancy loss to enhance awareness and understanding, public health and services and supports’—addresses issues related to the stigma, sensitivities and silence, lack of awareness and understanding, and lack of relevance or priority afforded to pregnancy loss. The second theme—‘Use a range of tailored, accessible approaches to engage a large, diverse range of knowledge users’—highlights the need to use relevant, accessible, and engaging information, resources or materials in knowledge translation efforts, and a variety of tailored approaches to suit different audiences, including materials, workshops/webinars, media, knowledge brokers and champions or opinion leaders.ConclusionsOur analysis provides rich insights into the barriers and facilitators to knowledge translation in the field of pregnancy loss research. We identified key strategies that can be used to inform knowledge translation planning in Ireland, and which have international applicability.

An analysis of the social and private return to land use change from agriculture to renewable energy production in Ireland

Increased use of renewable energy is a major part of Ireland's plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, lessen reliance on fossil fuels, and enable sustainable economic growth. Two forms of renewable energy interesting Irish policymakers are bioenergy and solar PV. To scale up these technologies, land will be required to grow bioenergy feedstocks and erect ground mount solar PV arrays. A micro, farm-based approach is utilised to generate private returns from renewable energy production, and agriculture, adjusted for the cost of GHGs. This considers both the cost to society of increasing GHG emissions and the benefit of reducing emissions.This paper compares income that could be derived from renewable energy production with average agricultural income from the main farm systems in Ireland. The private (market and subsidy) and social (GHG) return from substituting renewable energy sources for the existing agricultural land use on 1 ha is considered. We also use input-output modelling to generate output multipliers for renewable energy technologies: biogas, biomethane, short rotation coppice (SRC) willow, and solar PV.The results show that the market return from growing 1 ha of grass silage and SRC willow is less than for all the main farming systems. When the social value of the feedstock is considered by putting a monetary value on displaced GHG emissions, producing grass silage and willow biomass can provide a better return to farmers than cattle and sheep farming. Due to the high land rental amounts available to farmers from solar companies, the market and social return is higher for using land to erect solar PV than any of the main agricultural activities. Results from the output multiplier analysis show that biomethane production has the highest multiplier while solar PV has the lowest.

People-Powered Planning: Planning from the bottom up in a top-down system

This paper is concerned with spatial policy in Ireland. It adopts an historical lens to help explain why Ireland currently finds itself at the bottom of the European league table with regard to local governance. After categorising the Irish political and planning system as highly centralised, bureaucratic and linear, the paper uses a case study of the Moycullen village plan to show an alternate path towards place development in Ireland. This case study sets out to contrast the desire of a people to collaborate in the authorship of their place with the top down nature of spatial planning in Ireland. By making clear the methods and results of the project, this paper highlights the latent demand that exists in a community that is subject to national planning system that reduces their ability to affect change. Through the use of some innovative approaches, this project has sought to fire the geographic imaginary of a people with respect to their place.

Perceptions of Higher Specialist Trainees and Fellows of the Proposed Sláintecare Consultant Contract and Implications for Workforce Planning in Ireland

To explore the perceptions of higher specialist trainees and fellows in Ireland with respect to the Irish Department of Health’s recent proposal to implement a drafted, non-negotiated, consultant contract under a new model for healthcare, termed the Sláintecare plan. A customized survey, incorporating multiple-choice and Likert-scale questions and a free-text option, was disseminated to doctors enrolled in Irish higher specialist training (HST) programmes and pre-consultant HST graduates (fellows). Responses were compiled and analysed. There were a total of 1109 respondents across all specialities. Trainees were particularly concerned regarding the Sláintecare contract’s potential impact on their abilities to engage in patient advocacy and provide optimal patient care in the future, the maintenance of specialist skillsets, their ownership of intellectual property and a stable location of the practice. Of respondents, 93.7% (1003/1070) indicated that they would consider working abroad rather than accept the proposed contract. This study highlights the perceptions and concerns of the higher specialist trainees and fellows of Ireland. A large proportion may emigrate rather than accept the Sláintecare proposals. Concerns exist surrounding the ability to advocate for patients, to provide patient care, the proposed working conditions and perceived potential to deskill under this contract’s terms.

A Literature Review of Possible Barriers and Knowledge Gaps of General Practitioners in Implementing Advance Care Planning in Ireland: Experience from Other Countries

An Advance Care Plan (ACP) is a process of decision-making concerning end of life care that embodies a patient’s values and wishes, for a time when patients are unable to make such decisions for themselves. ACPs have been employed into medical practices worldwide; however, they remain largely uncompleted by general practitioners (GPs), regardless of their benefits to patients and their families with respect to end of life (EOL) care. Furthermore, ACPs will soon be implemented into clinician practices across Ireland, as part of the Assisted Decision Making (Capacity) Act 2015. This review aims to explore the literature to examine challenges GPs may face in employing ACPs into clinical practice. An electronic search was performed through three databases: PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL Plus, through which a total of eleven studies met the selection criteria. Additionally, three studies were provided by experts in the field. Thus, a total of fourteen studies were condensed and critically appraised through CASP (Critical Appraisal Skills Program), which concluded that the quality of the studies was high. Through this review, knowledge gaps and barriers for GPs regarding ACPs were identified. Barriers for implementing ACPs into practice were categorized into three major themes: barriers for the GP, barriers in the healthcare system, and barriers regarding the patient. These included insufficient time, complexity of the ACP documents themselves, uncertainty of the disease prognosis, and the ultimate fear of inducing anxiety and loss of hope in patients.

The language planning policy in Ireland and Irish-language books: A hundred year perspective

An element of a nation’s state policy is to support the use of a particular language or languages while prohibiting the use of other languages or their varieties in certain situations – usually formal. This is in the realm of language planning of which there are two basic types. Corpus planning involves establishing a standard language and promoting it among the language users. Status planning supports the use of a particular language through granting it the status of official language or auxiliary language in a given state or region, most often in the spheres of education, administration, services and media. This article discusses the Irish-language book in the context of language planning in Ireland. Particular observations are made from a perspective of a hundred years after most of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to form an autonomous state (1922), which required the establishment of new national policies.

Transitions of spatial planning in Ireland: moving from a localised to a strategic national and regional approach

ABSTRACT Major policy or paradigm shifts to more sustainable development paths present political, economic and social challenges. In Ireland, the experiences of other European states have been used to shift what was a localised development-led planning system towards the incorporation of national and strategic approaches. The transition is from a land-use planning approach with a market-led emphasis based on a local plan making function with regulatory controls. This paper explores the process, factors and inherent difficulties involved in moving from a localized to more integrated and strategic approaches and examines experiences to date.

Population-based palliative care planning in Ireland: how many people will live and die with serious illness to 2046?

Background: All countries face growing demand for palliative care services. Projections of need are essential to plan care in an era of demographic change. We aim to estimate palliative care needs in the Republic of Ireland from 2016 to 2046. Methods: Static modelling of secondary data. First, we estimate the numbers of people who will die from a disease associated with palliative care need. We combine government statistics on cause of death (2007-2015) and projected mortality (2016-2046). Second, we combine these statistics with survey data to estimate numbers of people aged 50+ living and dying with diseases associated with palliative care need. Third, we use these projections and survey data to estimate disability burden, pain prevalence and health care utilisation among people aged 50+ living and dying with serious medical illness. Results: In 2016, the number of people dying annually from a disease indicating palliative care need was estimated as 22,806, and the number of people not in the last year of life aged 50+ with a relevant diagnosis was estimated as 290,185. Equivalent estimates for 2046 are up to 40,355 and 548,105, increases of 84% and 89% respectively. These groups account disproportionately for disability burden, pain prevalence and health care use among older people, meaning that population health burdens and health care use will increase significantly in the next three decades. Conclusion: The global population is ageing, although significant differences in intensity of ageing can be seen between countries. Prevalence of palliative care need will nearly double over 30 years, reflecting Ireland’s relatively young population. Older people living with a serious disease outnumber those in the last year of life by approximately 12:1, necessitating implementation of integrated palliative care across the disease trajectory. Urgent steps on funding, workforce development and service provision are required to address these challenges.

Population-based palliative care planning in Ireland: how many people will live and die with serious illness to 2046?

Background: All countries face growing demand for palliative care services. Projections of need are essential to plan care in an era of demographic change. We aim to estimate palliative care needs in Ireland from 2016 to 2046. Methods: Static modelling of secondary data. First, we estimate the numbers of people in Ireland who will die from a disease associated with palliative care need. We combine government statistics on cause of death (2007-2015) and projected mortality (2016-2046). Second, we combine these statistics with survey data to estimate numbers of people aged 50+ living and dying with diseases associated with palliative care need. Third, we use these projections and survey data to estimate disability burden, pain prevalence and health care utilisation among people aged 50+ living and dying with serious medical illness. Results: In 2016, the number of people dying annually from a disease indicating palliative care need was estimated as 22,806, and the number of people not in the last year of life aged 50+ with a relevant diagnosis was estimated as 290,185. Equivalent estimates for 2046 are 40,355 and 548,105, increases of 84% and 89% respectively. These groups account disproportionately for disability burden, pain prevalence and health care use among older people, meaning that population health burdens and health care use will increase significantly in the next three decades. Conclusion: The global population is ageing, although significant differences in intensity of ageing can be seen between countries. Prevalence of palliative care need in Ireland will nearly double over 30 years, reflecting Ireland’s relatively young population. People living with a serious disease outnumber those in the last year of life by approximately 12:1, necessitating implementation of integrated palliative care across the disease trajectory. Urgent steps on funding, workforce development and service provision are required to address these challenges.

Population-based palliative care planning in Ireland: how many people will live and die with serious illness to 2046?

Background: All countries face growing demand for palliative care services. Projections of need are essential to plan care in an era of demographic change. We aim to estimate palliative care needs in Ireland from 2016 to 2046. Methods: Static modelling of secondary data. First, we estimate the numbers of people in Ireland who will die from a disease associated with palliative care need. We combine government statistics on cause of death (2007-2015) and projected mortality (2016-2046). Second, we combine these statistics with survey data to estimate numbers of people aged 50+ living and dying with diseases associated with palliative care need. Third, we use these projections and survey data to estimate disability burden, pain prevalence and health care utilisation among people aged 50+ living and dying with serious medical illness. Results: In 2016, the number of people dying annually from a disease indicating palliative care need was estimated as 22,806, and the number of people not in the last year of life aged 50+ with a relevant diagnosis was estimated as 290,185. Equivalent estimates for 2046 are 40,355 and 548,105, increases of 84% and 89% respectively. These groups account disproportionately for disability burden, pain prevalence and health care use among older people, meaning that population health burdens and health care use will increase significantly in the next three decades. Conclusion: The global population is ageing, although significant differences in intensity of ageing can be seen between countries. Prevalence of palliative care need in Ireland will nearly double over 30 years, reflecting Ireland's relatively young population. People living with a serious disease outnumber those in the last year of life by approximately 12:1, necessitating implementation of integrated palliative care across the disease trajectory. Urgent steps on funding, workforce development and service provision are required to address these challenges.

An evidence informed approach to planning for event management in Ireland

PurposeEvents are a significant component of Ireland’s tourism offering. They are an important source of economic activity and an incremental driver of social change and development throughout the country. However, the visual and physical impacts often created by event activities to the environmental and social resource base upon which, events depend, have begun to draw attention to the way events are planned and managed. Although the concept of sustainability has become the topic of much discussion and debate in event management literature, there exist many gaps in relation to its practical application in event management planning in Ireland. This is despite the statutory obligation of local authorities in Ireland to license events and to facilitate the process of planning for large-scale outdoor public events in Ireland. Yet, with the continued expansion of Ireland’s event industry, there is a fundamental need for an evidence-informed approach to planning for event management. Through the application of the European tourism indicator system (ETIS), the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the national event industry in Ireland could be secured. This paper aims to examine and discuss the application of the ETIS as a possible tool to facilitate greater levels of sustainability and accountability within the events industry in Ireland.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a quantitative content analysis approach involving a complete population sample of local authorities in the Republic of Ireland to determine the application of the ETIS within the legal process of planning for event management in Ireland.FindingsWhile the findings have identified a basic provision for event management within a number of local authority legally required County Development Plans, none, however, were using the ETIS to monitor the impacts of events at the local level. This lack of data collection and benchmarking highlights the need for greater levels of sustainability and accountability within the legal process of planning for event management in Ireland.Originality/valueThis study suggests the ETIS as an easy, cost effective and viable solution to facilitate an evidence-informed approach to planning for event management at the local level. However, the lessons learned from this study may also have implications for destination planners and event managers outside of Ireland.

Visions and plans for regional development in Ireland

Abstract The evolution of spatial planning in Ireland, and more widely, has been a complex process in which many narratives have been explored at different times. In 2018 the government published the National Planning Framework (NPF) to guide and support the achievement of a challenging and potentially transformative development strategy for Ireland 2040. The NPF is grounded in a vision that sets out to be disruptive of what has become embedded as the status quo in political, administrative and planning decision-making. While it is a very innovative addition to the portfolio of government policies and strategies, it is not the first time that radical visions have been proposed. This paper reviews previous visions and plans for regional development that have been proposed over the last seventy-five years, and critically compares and contrasts the approaches represented by the National Spatial Strategy (2002–20) and the NPF (2018–40), including the subsequent draft regional spatial and economic strategies. The implications of the population projections and the proposed settlement patterns for the achievement of the NPF objective of effective regional development, which is expressed as a regional parity target, are closely examined.

The structural failure of regional planning in Ireland: Introduction

The structural failure of regional planning in Ireland: Introduction

Evaluating Goal Programming as a Backcasting Tool to Assess the Impact of Local Stakeholder Determined Policies on the Future Provision of Ecosystem Services in Forested Landscapes

Forest management in Ireland has traditionally focused on timber production and policies have been implemented with this in mind. Since the mid-1990s, the focus is transitioning from timber production to a more multifunctional forest management approach following the principles of sustainable forest management. A method known as “backcasting” has the potential to include local stakeholders into land-use and policy planning. Two case study areas were chosen to investigate the potential of backcasting for integrated forest landscape planning in Ireland: Western Peatlands and Newmarket. Potential beneficial policies produced by local stakeholders in participatory workshops were assessed for robustness using a goal programming model and the resulting changes in forest management and ecosystem service provisions were analysed. While each evaluated backcasting policy increased the provision of that policy’s targeted ecosystem service(s), it was at a cost to some others. The widening of buffer zones did reduce the landscape level risk to water sedimentation and the policy to enhance each landscape’s recreation potential did the intended. However, both policies reduced the amount of timber produced for most potential futures. The option of using genetically improved tree species showed potential to mitigate the effect of these policies on timber production. We present this study as a useful reference point toward evaluating the efficacy of a range of potentially implementable scenarios in Ireland. We believe the backcasting approach has promise for future use in other landscapes, given the success of this approach in our study. Given that much of the information required to model the ecosystem services was extracted from scientific research and datasets from outside of Ireland, the approach may well be useful for others seeking to do similar outside of Ireland.

A Study on the Transformation of National Planning in Ireland after Introducing Spatial Planning Concept

A Study on the Transformation of National Planning in Ireland after Introducing Spatial Planning Concept

UK and Ireland Planning Research Conference 2018 – Alternative Futures for Planning

UK and Ireland Planning Research Conference 2018 – Alternative Futures for Planning

Ireland’s New National Planning Framework: (Re)Balancing and (Re)Conceiving Planning for the Twenty-First Century?

ABSTRACTThis article examines the recent evolution of national spatial planning in Ireland, focusing on the recent publication of National Planning Framework (NPF) in 2018. The NPF is Ireland’s second national strategy for spatial development and represents a further shift away from traditional land-use regulation towards broader-based strategic spatial planning. In this commentary, we reflect on official perspectives regarding the role that planning should perform in a period of significant social, economic and environmental change and how planning policy conceives of ‘balance’ between competing priorities in the ‘public interest’. We contend that this ‘balance’ is weighted heavily towards development enablement.

Conference Report UK–Ireland Planning Research Conference 2017

Conference Report <i>UK–Ireland Planning Research Conference 2017</i>

Policy and Practice Spatial imaginaries: tyrannies or transformations?

This Policy and Practice (P&P) originated from the round table discussion held in the UK and Ireland Planning Research Conference at Queens University Belfast from 11 to 13 September 2017. Its aim is to explore the representational and performative role of spatial imaginaries in both describing identities and ascribing them to places and thus influencing spatial relations and planning practices. The P&P consists of four contributions which reflect on and respond to the editor’s opening essay by focusing on a number of key questions that are pivotal in understanding spatial imaginaries and their role in planning thoughts and practices, such as: how do spatial imaginaries come about? Which mechanisms and tools are drawn upon to construct, circulate and galvanise them? How and why do certain spatial imaginaries become dominant in planning? And what is the role of planning in generating, uncovering, enacting or resisting certain imaginaries?