About Us

Founded in 2003, the Centre for Management Research in Healthcare and Healthcare Economics, School of Business, Waterford Institute of Technology, was established with a remit to conduct and disseminate applied research in a previously underrepresented area in an Irish context. The formal commissioning of the Centre, as part of the School of Business, was facilitated by a successful application to the National Technological Sector Research Programme (Strand III), which secured funding in excess of €300,000.

Since its inception, the Centre has further benefited from a collaborative partnership with the South-Eastern branch of the Health Services Executive (HSESE), which has facilitated both the joint identification of key research priorities and access to research sites where appropriate.

A unique facet of the Centre is its multidisciplinary membership, which is in turn reflected in its research activities.  Currently, PhD-level work on quality accreditation system implementation, focusing on the process of accreditation as a means of improving quality in healthcare, is being conducted by Brigid Milner. A second PhD project under the management of the Centre is being conducted by Rosemarie Kelly which examines performance management within the Irish healthcare system. Sinead Acheson has recently undertaken a third PhD-level project in the area of patient involvement in healthcare governance.

The area of management development in the field of nursing is the focus of another of the key projects within the Centre. Research in this area has been completed at Masters level by Laura Purcell.

Other areas of research interest for members of the Centre include GP management practices and healthcare economics.

The broad range of research being undertaken by members of the Centre's research team allows for the provision of flexible, but focused, research training and support to staff in healthcare sites across the region. In turn, members of the Centre engaged in healthcare research, are provided with invaluable site access for their own research projects.

Members of the Centre's team are actively involved in providing staff in healthcare sites across the region with research training and mentoring. At a time of massive structural change and increasing emphasis on accountability and improvement of standards within the healthcare system, there is a need for healthcare workers to be equipped with the necessary tools to conduct rigorous research into the areas of healthcare management that are impacting on service delivery.

The research training provided by the Centre addresses the fundamentals of conducting research in a healthcare setting, with particular emphasis on the area of quality accreditation.

The Centre's industry partners and academic members have been guided by a set of principles that govern its operation and direction going forward:

• Evaluate and adjust our process and deliverables to offer high value to both academic members and collaborative partners.
• Offer timely and actionable research results to members and collaborative partners.
• Interact effectively and fashion frequent opportunities for rich, rigorous dialog between leading healthcare executives and academics.