Synopsis

Embedding Design in Healthcare: HSE Spark Innovation Programme Since the launch of the Design Principles for Government (2022) and the Action Plan for Designing Better Public Services (2023), the HSE Spark Innovation Programme has systematically embedded Human-Centred Design (HCD) as a core approach to healthcare innovation, both as a mindset and a methodology. HCD places service users, patients, carers, clinicians, and manager, at the centre of design. It provides an evidence-based methodology to generate insights and co-design solutions that are desirable, feasible, and viable. This approach has delivered tangible operational benefits, including reduced inefficiencies, improved workflow predictability, and cost avoidance through early clarification of needs. It has also strengthened quality and safety, supported integrated care, improved communication of complex systems, and enabled more sustainable, low-waste service models. HSE Spark has followed a structured but iterative roadmap for embedding design, explicitly aligned with the Government’s Design Principles and Action Plan, focused on building commitment, capability, and culture, particularly through workforce development. In this panel series, we will present a series of projects, across the lifespan, which embody the ethos and principles of Design in Healthcare.