Mentorship is an important part of the development of skills within health service staff and contributes directly to maintaining and elevating Quality Assurance standards and ultimately improving client outcomes. Over the past 12 months, the HSE Tobacco Free Ireland programme has been collaborating with the Leadership, Learning and Talent Management service (LLTM) to develop mentorship resources and formal training to help experienced Stop Smoking Advisor staff support and mentor newer staff members.
A successful mentorship training session was recently delivered to 15 Stop Smoking Advisors, aimed at enhancing their skills and supporting the quality assurance (QA) standards for stop smoking services. The training was provided by the LLTM team, led by Liam Carey and Aisling Dempsey.
This training incorporated a comprehensive mentorship toolkit, co-produced by Tobacco Free Ireland (TFI) alongside Cliodhna Kirwan, Tobacco Lead for CHO 9, and Trisha Loughman, Tobacco Lead for CHO 7. The toolkit has been fully integrated into the LLTM mentorship resource, ensuring a cohesive approach that aligns with national stop smoking services and standards.
The training equipped advisors with practical tools and guidance to better support colleagues and promote consistent, high-quality interventions within stop smoking services. By embedding these mentorship practices, the programme contributes directly to maintaining and elevating QA standards, ultimately improving client outcomes.
A further mentorship training course is scheduled for September 30th, providing additional advisors the opportunity to engage with the programme and benefit from this targeted professional development.