Health Intelligence is part of the Quality and Clinical Care Directorate within the Health Service Executive and is responsible for capturing and utilising knowledge to support decision-making to improve the health of the population.

What is Health Intelligence?

Health Intelligence has responsibility for the development and use of knowledge to support decision-making to improve the health of the population.

The Head of Health Intelligence is Dr. Davida De La Harpe.

Dr. De La Harpe's role is to lead, direct and manage the Health Intelligence Team as a national function in providing a support to the HSE / health system to make good decisions for better health and social care by using the evidence base of health.

The key activities of the Health Intelligence Team are:

• Production / development of evidence-based analyses / products / reports / surveys / methodologies that inform the key strategic and operational decision-making needs of the HSE and the wider health system, including further use and development of Health Atlas Ireland.
• Enabling relevant health service staff to make use of a range of forms of health intelligence, evidence, and knowledge for health, through for example information and knowledge systems, facilitation of groups / teams in decision-making / change processes, interventions to get research into practice and targeted skills training.
• Enabling Research & Development in the HSE and the wider health system through direct working with internal research structures, and linkages with external research bodies (participation in steering groups and authorship of research papers).

Click here for information about the Health Intelligence Team

What does Health Intelligence do?

• Health Information and Surveillance, Population Figures.
• Evidence Based Health Care, Research, and Development
• Support for Health Technology Assessment and Health Impact Assessment providing all those who make decisions in the HSE with high-quality information or tools to determine potential impacts of decisions on provision of new technologies or other developments on health and health inequalities.
• Knowledge Management: Capturing, collating, storing and sharing knowledge:
• Linkages between health care professionals and relevant health care information.

 Health Status of the Population of Ireland.

The health of the Irish population has improved considerably over the years. Life expectancy in Ireland is at the highest level ever, and people generally rate their health as good. A wide variety of factors, including lifestyle, environment, and deprivation impact on the health of a population. Health services are only one of many influences.

The Irish health services are currently undergoing a change in structure and organisation, which is being implemented through the Transformation Programme.

This document aims to inform the development of future health services. It is essential in planning health services that they are organised on the basis of identified need, and that priority is given to those areas that can produce the best potential benefit in improving health status. This is best catered for through a population health approach.

Click here to view the full report

For updates on Swine Flu, visit the Health Protection Surveillance Centre website. The site contains factsheets, guidance, travel advice and news updates.

Click here to view details on the All Ireland electronic Health Library