Heroes Community of Practice
Managing Data in Health Workforce Administration
9th HEROES Community of Practice Meeting
21 November 2025
Hosted by Department of Health, Ireland
Reflecting on the 9th Community of Practice Meeting which was hosted by the Strategic Workforce Planning Unit in the Department of Health in Ireland, centred around how several organisations manage data in health workforce administration.
The session featured contributions from
- Breda Rafter, Strategic Workforce Planning Unit, Department of Health
- Bernadette Rock, Head of Research, Medical Council of Ireland
- Ray Healy, Director of Registration, Nursing & Midwifery Board, Ireland
- Melika Khandanian, Health of Digital and Quality Systems, CORU
- Sheelah Connolly, Associate Research Professor, ESRI (Economic & Social Research Institute)
- Dr. Philippa Ryan Withero & Dean Grennan, Strategic Workforce Planning & Intelligence, HSE (Health Service Executive)
As workforce planners, we recognise that workforce planning data sets will inevitably contain gaps and inconsistencies. However, by identifying and understanding these gaps, we can construct robust and reliable solutions. It is equally important to acknowledge that data is rarely perfect; the real magic comes from learning how to extract value from imperfect and messy data, to gain knowledge and insights and create ACTIONS.
Within the framework of JA HEROES, actions that influence workforce data should be both ambitious and forward-looking. This session aims to examine these topics within the Irish context, engaging stakeholders who manage and utilise health workforce data to generate insights and facilitate knowledge sharing.
This Community of practice started with an introduction from Breda Rafter, Principal Officer in the Strategic Workforce Planning Unit in the Department of Health who gave the audience a brief introduction into the role each stakeholder plays within the data flows framework. Breda gave a brief history of the establishment of the planning unit and its role and the work that has been undertaken in recent years to build workforce planning capacity and capabilities within the Department of Health. The recent regionalisation of health care services was also touched upon along with policy objectives such as Sláintecare+ reform programme committed to under the Programme for Government which sets out a wide range of system reforms, to build capacity and improve access and service quality.
After this introduction there were presentations from the Medical Council of Ireland, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland and CORU who regulate health and social care professionals (Allied Health Professionals). These contributions focused on harnessing workforce data for impact, innovations taken to support the workforce and creating a foundation for future workforce analytics and supporting evidence-based planning and long-term sustainability.
Following presentations by the Professional Regulators the meeting then focused on how workforce data can be used by researchers to create insights regarding future demand when combined with activity data. Sheelah Connolly, Associate Research Professor from the ESRI (Economic and Social Research Institute) gave the audience a glimpse into their methodology for calculating the demand for General Practitioners under a number of scenarios with a regional breakdown the latest feature of their modelling work which reflects the recent regionalisation of health and care services in Ireland.
To conclude the presentations, Dr. Philippa Ryan Withero & Dean Grennan, Strategic Workforce Planning & Intelligence, HSE (Health Service Executive) representing the public health service provider in Ireland focused their presentation on the integrity, stability and functionality of their data reporting infrastructure giving the attendees a glimpse into the HR mapping systems in place but also the challenges presented by introducing new systems in the midst of health service wide reform.
As the meeting came to an end, Breda concluded with words of appreciation for the work of all stakeholders in for their collaborative approach that feeds into the workforce planning policy-making process. She also mentioned the influence of our JA HEROES membership and how it has motivated Ireland to be ambitious and focus on ACTIONS, which is what JA HEROES is all about. She reaffirmed the ambition of the Strategic Workforce Planning Unit and wider group of stakeholders to take a sustainable approach which builds on the solid foundations of our current data landscape.