Largest HIV Clinic in Ireland reduces unscheduled walk-ins by 5% thanks to college project
The St James’s Hospital and SETU’s Higher Diploma in Operational Excellence in Healthcare, which graduated 15 healthcare workers this year, delivers real-world improvements across
Dublin, 14th November 2025 – Graduates of a postgraduate programme developed by St James’s Hospital and South East Technological University (SETU) have helped Ireland’s largest sexual health clinic expand capacity to treat more people living with HIV each week.
The Operational Excellence in Healthcare programme (level 8) equips hospital staff with the tools to improve services and patient care. The course empowers participants to lead transformative projects that address inefficiencies and strengthen healthcare delivery. This year’s graduates of 15 healthcare workers applied their learning to existing challenges across St James’s Hospital and delivered projects which improved clinic operations, enhanced accessibility and supported high-quality, sustainable care for patients.
Among the projects developed through the course was an initiative to expand capacity at St James’s Hospital’s GUIDE Clinic. As Ireland’s largest sexual health and infectious disease clinic, the GUIDE Clinic cares for over 3,900 people living with HIV and manages more than 8,500 outpatient appointments each year. Rising patient numbers, however, had not been matched by service expansion, leading to chronic overbooking, long delays and staff strain.
In collaboration with St James’s Hospital’s Lean Transformation team, graduates identified an increase in clinic demand in 2023. They developed solutions to manage the demand by applying a structured approach of agreeing work processes, mapping clinic flow and patient journeys.
The project resulted in clinic capacity increasing, with a 5% reduction in unscheduled walk-ins, all while maintaining the high standard of care for which St James’s is renowned. Additionally, average patient wait times have decreased by 6%.
HIV and Hepatitis C Nurse Gillian Farrell, who helped lead the programme with colleague Consultant Physician in Genito-Urinary Medicine & Senior Clinical Lecturer Giovanni Villa said, “In healthcare, external factors are constantly changing, and we must adapt to continue providing excellent care. We considered social inclusion, an ageing patient population and future-proofing the service. I’m proud that we integrated these elements into the project. The results have been outstanding. The course provided invaluable mentorship, support and the chance to collaborate with brilliant colleagues I might never have met otherwise.”
In a video message commending the graduates’ achievements, CEO of the HSE, Bernard Gloster said: “Operational Excellence in healthcare is absolutely essential to what we do; it is the difference between the healthcare system working and not working. Strategy is important, vision is important, planning is important. We need all of those things, but ultimately they all crystallise in operations. That’s why operational excellence and its pursuit in the form of training like this higher diploma is so essential.”
Director of Lean Transformation at St James’s Hospital, Fiona Keogan, said: “Our vision is built on a system-wide improvement programme using Lean Transformation to embed excellence at every level. Lean is about empowering those who do the work to lead change, using their skills and experience to make a real difference. The Higher Diploma in Operational Excellence has helped us strengthen these skills and enable staff to identify waste, streamline processes and deliver tangible benefits for patients and colleagues alike.”
CEO of the hospital, Mary Day said: “Congratulations to this year’s graduates of the Higher Diploma in Operational Excellence. Education is central to the work we do here at St James’s. It’s how we equip our staff to lead change and, most importantly, improve care for our patients. These graduates are the leaders of the future, they are already driving safer, faster and more personalised care across our hospital.