NLFI was established in 2015 with the aim of engaging with the appropriate members/stakeholders, government and health care organisations in order to develop a strategy for Lymphoedema Services in the Irish Republic and to promote and support the establishment of a clinical pathway for management of lymphoedema in the best interest of patient care.
Roles and Functions of NLFI
- To increase awareness by raising the profile of Lymphoedema within the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE), National Cancer Care Programmes (NCCP), and the Department of Health.
- To facilitate and/or contribute to better access to treatment for patients nationally.
- To promote and petition Government Services for equity of access to services.
- To help Healthcare Services to understand the real needs of patients and practitioners.
- To increase understanding of Lymphoedema and its management, by creating and/or contributing to the development of education programmes.
- To network through the ILF framework in order to establish supportive links and share knowledge.
- To promote and document Best Practice and contribute to the overall ILF dataset.
- To identify and map all Lymphoedema Practitioners nationally.
- To keep ILF informed of new developments and issues that may arise nationally.
- To carry out when appropriate the ILF Practice Survey.
- To promote and support initiatives whose goals are to improve national/regional/local management of Lymphoedema.