HSE West and North West says community-based care programmes are delivering significant improvements across Donegal, with fewer hospital admissions and faster access to treatment as services move closer to home.
The Enhanced Community Care Programme is designed to shift care from hospitals into local communities by strengthening links between GPs, primary care and specialist teams.
In Donegal, the CARE Respiratory Virtual Ward has saved 2,501 hospital bed days since November 2023, alongside a 25% reduction in COPD admissions to Letterkenny University Hospital and a 55% drop in readmissions.
In cardiology, Chronic Disease Management pathways have delivered a 64% reduction in heart failure readmissions and a 21% reduction in AFib/flutter admissions, while diabetes services have cut referral-to-appointment times from up to three years down to around 4–6 weeks.
