National Public Health Emergency Team (2020)
The National Public Health Emergency Team is a group within Ireland's Department of Health that, according to Minister for Health Simon Harris, is currently "overseeing and providing direction and expert advice across the health service and the wider public service, on the national response to" coronavirus disease 2019.
According to The Irish Times, the NPHET to deal with the emerging SARS-CoV-2 was created on 27 January 2020.
Background
NPHET was monitoring the spread of the virus before it was confirmed to have reached Ireland. When established in 2020, it initially had a medium-sized room in the Department of Health. It then moved to a larger room as events developed. Eventually, with the spread of the virus, the daily meetings were conducted remotely using Zoom.The first known case of COVID-19 to have arrived in Ireland was announced on February 27, 2020, in a woman who had been skiing in Northern Italy and had flown back through Dublin Airport, travelled by bus to Connolly station before exiting into Northern Ireland by train; her case was confirmed two days later. The first known case of COVID-19 in a resident of the Republic of Ireland was confirmed in the county of Dublin on February 29, 2020, in a secondary school student who had returned from an affected area in Northern Italy.
NPHET continued to meet after the virus had arrived in Ireland to co-ordinate the national response to the pandemic.
Chief Medical Officer Tony Holohan chaired NPHET from the beginning of the establishment until he announced that he is stepping away as chief medical officer on 2 July 2020. As of 3 July 2020, Acting Chief Medical Officer Ronan Glynn chairs NPHET, with the support of three deputy chief medical officers. Meetings tend to start with an epidemiology report on the latest viral developments in Ireland. Holohan asks for the perspectives of public health doctors. Two letters are drafted at the end of each meeting, one for the Taoiseach and the other for the Minister for Health. In addition, before each meeting, Holohan gives its agenda to the Minister for Health in a call and queries if the government has anything specific they wish to have discussed.
NPHET has used press briefings to communicate updates, guidelines, statistics and policy changes to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland.
After it emerged that the agenda and meeting notes of NPHET had not been published since the end of March, and following calls in Dáil Éireann for be rectified, minutes were subsequently published at the end of April. Shortly before this, NPHET published details of its governance structure.
Members
Members are from the Department of Health, HSE, HIQA, HPSC, ICGP and HPRA, as well as consultants, epidemiologists and the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group and the Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group.| Member | Role |
| Ronan Glynn | Acting Chief Medical Officer, Chair of NPHET |
| Eibhlin Connolly | Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health |
| Alan Smith | Deputy Chief Medical Officer of the Department of Health |
| Paul Bolger | Director of the Department of Health Resources Division |
| Colm Bergin | Consultant Infectious Diseases, St. James's Hospital and Professor of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin |
| Tracey Conroy | Acute Hospitals Division of the Department of Health |
| John Cuddihy | Interim Director of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre |
| Cillian de Gascun | Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory, Chair of the Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group |
| Colm Desmond | Corporate Legislation, Mental Health, Drugs Policy and Food Safety Division of the Department of Health |
| Colm Henry | Chief Clinical Officer of the Health Service Executive |
| Lorraine Doherty | National Clinical Director for Health Protection of the HPSC and HSE |
| Mary Favier | President of the Irish College of General Practitioners |
| Fergal Goodman | Primary Care Division of the Department of Health |
| Kevin Kelleher | Assistant National Director of the HSE |
| Marita Kinsella | Director of the National Patient Safety Office at the Department of Health |
| Kathleen Mac Lellan | Social Care Division of the Department of Health |
| Jeanette Mc Callion | Medical Assessor of the Health Products Regulatory Authority |
| Tom McGuinness | Assistant National Director at the Office of Emergency Planning at the HSE |
| Siobhán Ní Bhrian | Lead for Integrated Care of the HSE |
| Philip Nolan | President of Maynooth University |
| Kate O'Flaherty | Head of Health and Wellbeing at the Department of Health |
| Darina O'Flanagan | Special Advisor to NPHET and the Department of Health |
| Siobhan O'Sullivan | Chief Bioethics Officer of the Department of Health |
| Michael Power | National Clinical Lead, Critical Care Programme, HSE Consultant in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine at Beaumont Hospital, Dublin |
| Phelim Quinn | Chief Executive Officer of the Health Information and Quality Authority |
| Máirín Ryan | Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health Technology Assessment of HIQA |
| Breda Smyth | Director of Public Health Medicine of the HSE |
| Deirdre Watters | Head of Communications of the Department of Health |
| Liam Woods | National Director of Acute Operations of the HSE |
| David Walsh | National Director of Community Operations of the HSE |
| David Leach | Deputy National Director of Communications of the HSE |
Subgroups
Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group
The Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group is a subgroup of NPHET.It is chaired by Cillian de Gascun, the UCD-based Director of the National Virus Reference Laboratory.
The Coronavirus Expert Advisory Group met for the first time on 5 February 2020 in Dublin.
Acute Hospital Preparedness Subgroup
The Acute Hospital Preparedness Subgroup was formed on 3 March 2020 and met for the first time on 4 March 2020. It provides assurance on the preparedness of the acute hospital system to tackle significant increases in hospital admissions, and that plans for preparedness are being implemented across the public hospital system.It is chaired by Tracey Conroy, Assistant Secretary, Acute Hospitals Policy Division at the Department of Health.
Behavioural Change Subgroup
The Behavioural Change Subgroup was formed on 18 March and is made up of nine members. It was set up to provide insights and evidence to support the communications strategy and the wider work of NPHET.It is chaired by Kate O'Flaherty, Head of Health and Wellbeing at the Department of Health.
Guidance and Evidence Synthesis Subgroup
The Guidance and Evidence Synthesis Subgroup was formed to facilitate information exchange on the public health and clinical guidance relating to COVID-19. The subgroup provides assurance to NPHET on coordination of surge evidence synthesis capacity to support the development of guidance.It is chaired by Máirín Ryan, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health Technology Assessment at HIQA.
Modelling group
Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group
The Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group is a modelling group of NPHET formed on 11 March 2020 to provide statistical support and advice to NPHET and the Chief Medical Officer. Staff at University College Dublin and other mathematical researchers in Ireland are involved in developing mathematical models for stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.It is chaired by Philip Nolan, the president of Maynooth University.