Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Service Team receive ‘Bright Spark’ award

A HSE Sligo Leitrim Mental Health Service initiative benefiting people with severe mental illness, was recently recognised for its innovative approach in supporting people. The team received a ‘Bright Spark’ award at the HSE’s recent Spark Summit, hosted by HSE Spark.

The initiative saw a dedicated Physical Healthcare Screening Clinic introduced, which was established as part of the Early Intervention in Psychosis service. This was initiated to address physical health inequalities in patients with severe mental illness.

The initiative improved screening, early intervention, and integration with community supports. It delivered significant improvements in documentation, intervention rates, and patient health outcomes using existing resources.

Dr Petra McLoughlin, Senior Psychiatry Registrar, HSE West and North West said “I am passionate about improving integrated care and this award brings recognition to a team with the energy and dedication to bring about an integration of both physical and mental health care for the benefit of our service users.”

Jared Gormley, Head of HSE Spark, said "I’d like to congratulate Dr McLoughlin and her team on their Bright Spark award. At Spark, we believe that those closest to the challenges in our health service are best placed to design the solutions. The project demonstrates what can be achieved when frontline health and social care staff work in partnership with patients and service users to develop solutions centred on what matters most to them. We are extremely proud to support projects like this and their commitment to improving healthcare for patients, service users and staff across Ireland."

HSE Spark supports frontline workers to translate insights into system-level change. The programme equips frontline staff with the tools and resources needed to develop, test and implement their ideas, while keeping the needs and experiences of their patients and service users at the heart of every solution. In doing so, HSE Spark empowers staff to design and deliver innovative solutions to complex healthcare challenges that improve services for their patients, colleagues and the wider health service.