National Clinical Surveillance Infection Control System (NCSICS) Successful go-live in University Hospital Kerry

University Hospital Kerry successfully went live with the new NCSICS software system (ICNET) on August 20th 2025. This is a major step forward in the national rollout of the system. Phase 1 of the roll out focused on the HSE South West region who have been very proactive in implementing the system; a big thanks to all the staff that assisted in getting the background work completed, tested and over the line.

The local implementation group (LIG) were instrumental in the progression of the project in UHK. Steps including user acceptance testing (UAT), system training and testing post go-live were carried out by this multi-disciplinary group. Baxter (vendor) specialists provided in person training over 5 days for all key UHK staff prior to the go-live.

Laura Moore, CNM2 in Informatics said “We are delighted to have ICNet Go-Live in UHK. This was the culmination of many months' work by colleagues across multiple disciplines and sites in the South West. The collective effort and collaboration to standardise processes and optimise the system for our patient's needs is testament to our colleagues' commitment to quality improvement and patient safety. We have configured the system to best support our IPC nurses in their vital work managing patients with IPC alerts and protecting patients, public and staff from health care associated infections. It was a pleasure to work with local, regional and national colleagues with a special thank you to the LIG, Area Steering Committee, subgroups, the national project team and the vendor Baxter.  We look forward to seeing ICNet rolled out across the rest of HSE South West”.

Transforming Infection Prevention and Control

Infection prevention and control (IPC) is at the heart of safe patient care. With the increasing complexity of healthcare environments, timely surveillance, rapid response, and accurate data reporting are critical. This system has been designed to give IPC teams the tools they need to monitor, track and respond to infection risks more effectively and to improve reporting and overall respond to infection risks more effectively.  The system reduces administrative burden on infection control staff, releasing more time to care.

Extensive training sessions, user support, and feedback channels have been put in place to ensure a smooth transition and continuous system improvement. The UHK infection prevention and control team have embraced the system and are very happy with it.

From a personal point of view - I am delighted to reach this milestone and congratulate Laura Moore, CNM2 informatics and all the dedicated colleagues across the South West who have come together to standardise ways of working to ensure a robust system for the region, I would also like to thank Bernie Hannigan, Project Manager TT, Cathal O’Conallain, Project Manager TT and Regina Monahan, Project Manager AMRIC who have worked alongside colleagues in the South West and with National TT colleagues to host this system in the National Data Centre. They should be very proud of this milestone and look forward to completing the implementation across the South West Region and onwards.

Looking Ahead

Over the coming months, we look forward to the further rollout across the South West region and in the HSE Dublin and South East region. The AMRIC and Technology and Transformation team would like to thank everyone who contributed to this important milestone.

This project is sponsored by the HSE’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Colm Henry and Chief Technology and Transformation Officer Damian McCallion. It is being rolled out nationally on a phased basis by AMRIC and Technology and Transformation teams working collaboratively.