Homecare services soar

The Health Services Executive of Ireland, or HSE, is a government funded organization created in 2004 under the Health Act. It’s aim is to support the people of Ireland with the social and health related resources necessary to achieve their potential. Additionally, it gives Irish citizens the access to safe, compassionate, and quality health care at home or at a medical center. 

Within the recent years, there has been an influx in the population of adults that are in need of in-home services. The HSE has been outsourcing most of their at-home care business to businesses that are outside of the government, despite the high costs that come with this type of service. According to recent reports, the prices for this type of service can be twice the cost of Health Services Executives. 

Mary Butler, who is a spokesperson for older people, has looked into data and found that the HSE has outsourced basically all of their home care in the nation’s capital. Additionally, smaller cities such as Dún Laoghaire, Dublin south-east, Wicklow, Co Kerry, Co Cork, Co Donegal, Co …

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Some thoughts on the HSE and access to healthcare.

There is one cure for scarcity: abundance. When there is a scarcity of any resource nothing brings down the price quicker than abundance. For that reason a glass of water in the middle of the desert will always cost more than one at our offices in Dublin 2, that is a law as bankable as gravity.

So when we hear that the ‘health system’ is incredibly expensive, then you have to look at what the costs are, and ideas that might help to reduce those costs.

In Ireland 30% of the population have a medical card, almost 1.4 million people in total, and this is costing 3.4bn per annum. Emergency rooms are crowded but 75% of Emergency Department attendances don’t require hospitalization.

At the same time 55,000 people are receiving ‘home help’ clocking up almost 12,700,000 combined work hours. Overall cost of the HSE is €13.7bn and there is an ongoing deficit of c. 1bn Euro to contend with as well.

Pay and pensions …

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