Ireland’s Community Care Program sees improvements in waiting lists

DUBLIN, Ireland: The HSE’s Enhanced Community Care Program has yielded "very significant" improvements in waiting lists, with a 16 percent reduction in chronic disease hospital admissions between 2019 and 2023, resulting in 39,772 hospital bed days saved last year.

Dr. Orlaith O’Reilly, the HSE’s clinical lead for the Chronic Disease Management program, explained on RTE radio’s Morning Ireland that the system aims to provide care closer to home, avoid hospital admissions, support early discharge, and tackle waiting lists.

Integrated care consultants, splitting their time evenly between the community and hospitals, are now treating patients with chronic conditions such as heart failure, COPD, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

"The program is designed to provide care closer to home, avoid hospital admissions, support early discharge, and address waiting lists," Dr. O’Reilly elaborated. "It includes strengthening community networks, providing older persons community teams, and establishing care hubs for people with chronic diseases, staffed with specialist teams including nurse specialists, physiotherapists, and integrated care consultants."

Newly released data on the program shows significant progress for patients, especially older individuals and those with chronic diseases. Notably, there was a 65 percent reduction in the number of people waiting over 12 months for care.

Community specialist teams have played a pivotal role, contributing to a 16% decrease in chronic disease hospital admissions between 2019 and 2023, compared to a 3.5% decline in overall medical admissions during the same period.

Dr. O’Reilly emphasized that readmission rates for people with chronic diseases decreased by over 23 percent, a stark contrast to the five percent reduction for all medical patients over the same period.

Furthermore, nearly 100,000 patient contacts were made by community specialist teams for older individuals. Of these patients, 74 percent were discharged home with community-based interventions, effectively avoiding acute hospital admissions. Only 3 percent required long-term care admission, while 6 percent needed acute care.

Through the GP Access to Community Diagnostics scheme, a record number of radiology scans were conducted last year, totaling over 335,000-an increase of over 85,000 from the previous year. This decrease in referrals to Emergency Departments, Acute Medical Units, and outpatient departments demonstrates the program’s efficacy.