Healthcare in the Republic of Ireland

Health care in Ireland is delivered through public and private healthcare. The public health care system is governed by the Health Act 2004, which established a new body to be responsible for providing health and personal social services to everyone living in Ireland – the Health Service Executive. The HSE national health service officially began on 1 January 2005. A large scale reform program called Sláintecare has been in progress since 2020 aiming to transition to a universal single-tier health and social care system. Alongside the publicly funded HSE there is a large private healthcare system funded through optional health insurance and direct payment models.

In 2019 Ireland spent €3,513 per capita on health, close to the European Union average, of this spending approximately 79% was government expenditure. In 2017 spending was the seventh highest in the OECD: $5,500 per head.

Overcrowding has been an issue at hospitals in Ireland, with over 118,000 patients having to wait for a bed in 2019.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.