E-AHPBA 2025

E-AHPBA 2025

E-AHPBA 2025 took place in Dublin from June 10th – 12th and it was the 16th Biennial Congress of the European-African Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association. The venue was The Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) which is a world-class venue located in the heart of Dublin, offering an exceptional experience for conference delegates.

The event concentrated on Modern HPB Surgery with a theme of ‘When Innovation becomes Standard’ and was attended by two of our own IHS Directors; Kieran Healy and Danny Scales. Both Kieran and Danny were there to represent their respective clients; Erbe & Storz.

The E-AHPBA 2025 Congress included a day of a mixture of topics and session types that dealt with:

State of the Art
The State of the Art sessions are of highly topical and timely subjects in HPB surgery, addressed to all Congress participants.

Meet the Experts
These sessions were led by experts in their respective fields and explored topics in depth, giving you the latest updates and thinking from those at the frontline of research.

Symposia
Symposia are significant educational sessions aimed at critically reviewing diverse aspects of a specific topic.

Updates
These were sessions in which speakers were expected to provide objective, exhaustive reviews in a field, either clinical or basic. Issues regarding diagnosis, management and different aspects of research were evaluated.

Debates
Debates allowed speakers to debate controversial topics in an attractive format providing “food for thought”.

Additional sessions featured during the days in which the conference ran.

ECBIP 2025 : European Congress of Bronchology

This year the 8th European Congress of Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (ECBIP 2025), took place in Lisbon, Portugal, at Belém Cultural Centre between 8th and 10th of May 2025.

With an official motto of “Innovation in Interventional Pulmonology: new opportunities and future challenges in a precision medicine era.”
The event was a gathering for professionals, researchers, and leaders in the field of interventional pulmonology (IP) and respiratory medicine. The congress was an enriching platform, fostering knowledge exchange, innovative discussions, and advancements in IP techniques and practices.
The scientific program ran three tracks of sessions, lectures, and workshops, to combine scientific information, technological innovation updates and training opportunities. Interdisciplinary sessions with affiliate research and clinical disciplines, such as radiologists, oncologists, thoracic surgeons, ICU specialists, and informatics experts, enriched the agenda with emerging concepts.

IHS had the pleasure of having Karl Hogan and Kieran Healy attend the ECBIP event where they joined Erbe in promoting the Erbe Cryo unit for Cryo Biopsys and the Erbe VIO3n diathermy.

National Critical Care Nursing Conference Galway

Irish Hospital Supplies was delighted to support our colleagues at the National Critical Care Nursing Conference 2025, facilitated by the Intensive Care, High Dependency, PACU and CTICU units in Galway University Hospital which was held in The Clayton Hotel Galway on 10^th of April.  Another great event that continues to get better every year, with delegates attending from all over the country.

One of the topics discussed year was patient temperature management which involves monitoring and controlling a patient’s body temperature to maintain a stable, healthy range. This is crucial for various reasons, including optimising bodily functions and supporting medical interventions. Temperature management may involve actively cooling or warming the patient, depending on the situation.

Thanks also to our partner TSC Life for their continued support. Please contact Darren Costello for any further information you require.

Is CPD necessary in our sector?

As our governing body, the BEAI have a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme in place. It’s there so they can work with industry professionals so they can improve and maintain their skills and knowledge throughout their careers.The organisation see CPD as an integral component in the continuing development of safe and effective services for the benefit of service users, ergo it is more than a necessary component in todays marketplace. It ensures healthcare professionals stay current with the latest advancements, maintain their competence, and meet regulatory requirements. CPD helps doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers deliver the highest quality of care. 

As a distributor to the majority of medical establishments on the island, we also have a duty of care to stay current, so as professionals we can make more informed decisions, and ultimately improve patient outcomes. As our mission is to improve healthcare for all, we regularly attend events and conferences both here and abroad in order to stay current. 

Biomedical and Clinical Engineering Association of Ireland

Irish Hospital Supplies are proud to be a corporate member of the BEAI and proud to have attended the 27th Annual Scientific Conference each year which was held in Croak Park. The Biomedical & Clinical Engineering Association of Ireland (BEAI) was established in 1992 in response to the growing number of engineers working on electro-medical equipment. Their vision is to be the voice and thought leader for medical technology professionals in Ireland.

What does Article 10a mean for the industry?

Article 10a of the MDR/IVDR came into effect on the 10^th January 2025, but what does this mean for importers and distributors of medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics?

Article 10a rule obliges manufacturers to notify EU authorities and their customers in advance of supply interruptions and product device discontinuations if these could pose a risk of severe harm to patients

The information obligation regarding an anticipated interruption or discontinuation of device supply in Article 10a of the MDR/IVDR is intended to have a cascading effect. The information originating from the manufacturer, should be passed to other economic operators in the downstream supply, until it reaches the relevant health institutions, or healthcare professionals.

Relevant economic operators therefore who have received information from the manufacturer under Article 10a(1) of the MDR/IVDR or another economic operator in the supply chain (e.g. from importers or distributors), are expected to further share this information ‘without undue delay’ with other economic operators, health institutions and healthcare professionals to whom they directly supply the device. It is expected that economic operators do not change, add to or paraphrase the communication received from the manufacturer so as to preserve its integrity.

Ref; Q&A Obligation to inform in case of interruption or discontinuation of supply published on https://health.ec.europa.eu/

IDI Annual Congress 2024

Irish Hospital Supplies were very proud to support and participate in the Irish Decontamination Institute Annual Congress held in Hudson Bay Hotel Athlone on 14^th and 15^th of November 2024.  As always, the congress was very well supported by hospital and industry representatives alike.  The talks were very informative with great guest speakers and the social event on Thursday evening provided a great opportunity for everybody to catch up.  Many thanks to the IDI for their hospitality and we look forward to supporting you again in the future.

During the congress we showcased Humipak which is a moisture retention pouch for post-operative instrument handling, designed to inhibit hydrophobic proteins adhering to surgical instruments by creating a moist environment.

https://www.westmed.co.uk/prod/hospital-sterile-services/humipak-moisture-retention-pouch/humipak/

We also demonstrated Ultra pouches and reels, a packaging concept for medical devices that replaces traditional reusable containers and wrap systems.  The innovative reinforced porous side of Ultra offers much higher resistance to perforation compared to conventional pouches and wraps.

https://www.sterimed.fr/en/products/solutions-for-patient-care-units/ultra-pouches-and-reels-ultra-the-most-versatile-sterile-barrier-system

Irish Hospital Supplies would like to thank Westfield Medical for their support during the conference.

In attendance were Sales Directors Darren Costello and Kieran Healy, Sales Representatives Ken Walsh, Trevor Mulcahy, Andy Leonard, Karl Hogan, Ian Bolt of Irish Hospital Supplies and Hospital Sales Manager Phil Ashcroft of Westfield Medical.