HSE South West media release
March 11, 2025
HSE South West is delivering on our commitments to provide services our community is proud of, by improving outcomes for older adults and people living with chronic diseases across Cork and Kerry, through the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) Programme.
Our commitments to the communities we serve are that: We will value the time of those we are privileged to serve; we will put ourselves in your shoes; we will involve you as equal partners; we will avoid harm to patients and staff; and work to improve our services seven days a week.
Our progress towards this includes these achievements through the Enhanced Community Care programme:
- Reaching over 32,000 older people in Cork and Kerry in 2024.
- Supporting more than eight out of ten patients to be discharged home after community-based interventions.
- Fewer than 1 in 100 people needing to be admitted to long term care and fewer than 1 in 25 needing hospital services.
- More than 1,000 frail adults receiving care in their homes, avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions.
HSE South West Regional Executive Officer Dr Andy Phillips said:
“I am very proud of the work the Enhanced Community Care Team have done for the people of Cork and Kerry. As we put in place integrated teams, we will increasingly help older people to be supported to live at home following community interventions. Our integrated teams are dedicated to supporting people living with chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, delivering healthcare to where people live. Our teams are increasingly providing services, such as mobile X-rays, in the community that were previously only available in hospital.”
Our successes include:
Expanding Hospital Avoidance Initiatives
The Mobile X-ray service is benefitting over 600 nursing homes nationally, reducing the need for hospital visits. In HSE South West:
- Over 1,300 x-rays were completed using mobile x-ray services.
- 95% were treated at home, avoiding hospital transfers.
Enhancing Chronic Disease Management and Reducing Hospital Dependency
The ECC Programme is improving chronic disease care through consultant support:
- Integrated Care (IC) Consultants completed almost 5,000 patient contacts in 2024.
- Over 800 new patients received care through GP referrals and OPD waiting lists.
- Over 600 were seen from OPD waiting lists, with 32% seen within two weeks.
Community and Voluntary Supports
- Almost 6,000 people were supported by ALONE, a voluntary partner, in facilitating co-ordinated support, visitation support, befriending, age-friendly housing technology and community supports.
Strengthening Community Diagnostics and Therapy Services
Expanding access to diagnostics under the ECC Programme has resulted in:
- Almost 60,000 radiology tests completed.
- Over 14,000 NT-proBNP tests completed in HSE South West to detect new-onset heart failure.
Improving Multidisciplinary Care through the Community Healthcare Networks (CHNs) - increasing access to therapy services
- Over 180,000 patient contacts were completed across the five therapy services, including Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics, Speech and Language Therapy, and Podiatry.
- 48,000 patients seen for first-time assessments, with a notable increase in Physiotherapy.
Advancing Integrated Healthcare and Digital Transformation
The CHNs support team-based care:
- The HSE Area Finder tool helps GPs refer patients to CHN teams via HealthLink.
- 35,000 e-referrals were made through HealthLink in 2024, improving patient co-ordination.
Mobilising Remote Care Solutions
- The national roll-out of video consultations via Attend Anywhere is advancing the digitisation of community care services.
Last updated on: 03 / 04 / 2025
