The RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management, in partnership with the HSE Spark Innovation Programme team, has announced a new High Potential Innovation Awards initiative.

Through this unique joint venture, students of RCSI’s MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare will be invited to apply for bursaries allowing them the opportunity to implement high-potential ideas generated during the course of their studies.

Students undertaking the MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare at RCSI engage in applied learning as they examine real clinical care challenges through the lens of innovation and leadership theory. The course participants who are awarded a bursary will have the opportunity to channel their new learnings and implement their innovative ideas in their clinical environments and beyond.

Dr Gloria Kirwan, Senior Lecturer, RCSI School of Graduate Healthcare Management commented: “Our online MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare is already among the most advanced of its kind in the world, and in a rapidly-changing healthcare environment our collaboration with the HSE Spark Innovation Programme builds on new ideas whose effect will be felt immediately.

“Participants on this programme are clinicians, doctors, nurses, interdisciplinary health and social care professionals, healthcare managers and administrators: people who are already hard at work in healthcare settings on a daily basis. They take what they learn on our programme into their workplace and implement change the very next day,” added Dr Kirwan

Caitriona Heffernan, National Clinical Innovation Lead, HSE Spark Innovation Programme said: “The HSE Spark Innovation Programme encourages and inspires healthcare workers to develop solutions to improve our health service, and our partnership with RCSI’s MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare is a natural fit.

“As technology and education transform service delivery and workplaces, a pipeline of creative and staff-led ideas, solutions and practices has become more important than ever and is key in delivering improved services and patient outcomes across the healthcare system. The High Potential Innovation Awards are an important step forward in our aim to nurture the leadership capability of individuals and teams working together to deliver safer, better healthcare.”

There are three bursaries of €3,000 available through the scheme. One of these bursaries will be funded by the HSE Spark Innovation programme and open to employees of the HSE or a Section 38 organisation in Ireland. The other two bursaries will be funded by RCSI and open to all students of the MSc in Leadership and Innovation in Healthcare. The winning bursary recipients will receive the award to further progress their innovative idea via their associated organisation.

Sara McDonnell, Executive Director, RCSI Graduate School of Management and RCSI Online commented: “The RCSI Graduate School of Healthcare Management is a globally recognised education leader, dedicated exclusively to advancing the capabilities and competencies of healthcare professionals and their organisations.

“This initiative will drive meaningful and lasting improvements in healthcare systems and professional development, both in Ireland and internationally. It exemplifies the strength of our collaboration with the HSE Spark Innovation Programme and aligns with RCSI’s mission ‘to educate, nurture, and discover for the benefit of human health’.

“I look forward to witnessing the transformative impact of our awardees’ work on service delivery and patient outcomes – both now and into the future.”