NOCA Annual Conference 2026
The NOCA Annual Conference 2026 will take place on Tuesday 10th February 2026, in association with RCSI Charter Week. This will be an in-person event, taking place from 9:30am-4:30pm in RCSI, 26 York Street, Dublin 2. The theme for this year's event is ‘From Audit to Action: A Culture of Improvement’.
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The theme for this year’s event is ‘From Audit to Action: A Culture of Improvement’.
We have a varied programme of speakers and panellists, as well as a number of healthcare exhibitors to interact with during the breaks. The event will see the launch of the Irish Heart Attack Audit National Report 2024, as well as the NOCA Impact Report 2026.
The event programme can be viewed below.
The event recording and copies of presentations will be made available within one week of the event via the NOCA website.
CPD points will be available for this event by and Certificates will be issued to all delegates within two weeks of the event.
In the meantime, if you have any queries regarding the event, please email auditinfo@noca.ie
NOCA would like to thank our sponsors for supporting this event
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Event Programme
Morning Session - Chaired by Dr Eamon Dolan, Regional Clinical Director, HSE Dublin and North East
| Time | Presenter | Presentation Title |
|---|---|---|
| 09.30 | Collette Tully, Executive Director, NOCA | Welcome to NOCA 2026 |
| 09.35 | Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD, Minister of State for Public Health, Wellbeing and the National Drugs Strategy | Opening Address |
| 09.45 | Louise Brent, Head of Audit Management, NOCA Michael Madigan, Patient & Public Interest Representative, Audit Impact Committee | NOCA Impact Report 2026 |
| 10.00 | Professor Ronan Margey, Clinical Lead, Irish Heart Attack Audit | LAUNCH: Irish Heart Attack Audit National Report 2024 |
| 10.20 | Paula Connor, Patient & Public Interest Representative, Irish Heart Attack Audit | Patient Perspective |
| 10.35 | Q&A / Panel Discussion |
Mid-Morning Session - Majella Daly, Assistant National Director, Audit, Improvement and Education, HSE National Quality and Patient Safety
| Time | Presenter | Presentation Title |
|---|---|---|
| 11.30 | Emer Doyle, Principal Officer, Health Information Policy Unit, Department of Health | Ireland – Getting Ready for the European Health Data Space |
| 11.40 | NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 Carol Doherty, Respiratory Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Letterkenny University Hospital | Rebreathing new life into oxygen therapy |
| 11.50 | NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 Princy Kuriak, Clinical Skills Facilitator (Deteriorating Patient) Practice Development, Our Lady of Lourdes' Hospital, Louth Hospitals, Drogheda | Improving Sepsis Management in the Emergency Department, Louth Hospitals – An Organisational Quality Improvement Initiative |
| 12.00 | NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 Dr Muhammad Sikandar Tahir, Paediatric Registrar, Mayo University Hospital | Reducing Unnecessary SCBU Admissions Through a Midwifery-Centred Transitional Care Observation Pathway for Term and Near-Term Infants with Mild Respiratory Distress in a Level 1 Maternity Hospital |
| 12.10 | NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 Kayla Murphy, CNM2, Clinical Operations Manager, Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin | Probing for Change: Making Emergency Care Greener |
| 12.20 | NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 Edel O’Toole, Clinical Specialist Radiation Therapist, Radiation Safety Officer, University Hospital Galway | Audit of additional Cone beam imaging in pelvic radiotherapy and QIP to use Pelvic floor exercises to reduce improving efficiency, safety and patient experience on treatment |
| 12.30 | NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 Karena Hayes, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Stroke, Cork University Hospital | Time is Brain: Reducing time to CT for Acute Stroke Patients in Cork University Hospital |
| 12.40 | Panel Discussion - NOCA Clinical Leads & Chairs |
Afternoon Session - Chaired by Sandra Broderick, Regional Executive Officer, HSE Mid West
| Time | Presenter | Presentation Title |
|---|---|---|
| 14.20 | Recorded contribution from Christine and Matt Hurley, with live introduction by Dr Seán O’Dowd, Clinical Lead, HSE National Dementia Services | Patient & Family Perspective: Living with Dementia |
| 14.35 | KEYNOTE: Professor Emma Vardy, Clinical Co-Lead, National Audit of Dementia, UK | From data to practice – A spotlight on dementia |
| 15.00 | Dr Mary Browne, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, HSE National Health Service Improvement Team, Public Health Dr Graham Hughes, Clinical Lead, National Clinical Programme for Older People, HSE | Co-Designing What Matters - Ageing Well Together: An Older Adult Health and Wellbeing Profile |
| 15.20 | Michael Comyn, Managing Director, The Time Signal Ltd. | From Data to Doing: Unlocking the Immunity to Change |
| 15.40 | Panel Discussion | |
| 16.00 | Dr Brian Creedon, Clinical Director, NOCA | Presentation of NOCA Quality Improvement Champion Award 2026 & Closing Address |