Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 February 2016
89. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Health the number of Health Service Executive community intervention teams by local health office; the local health offices that do not have a community intervention team exclusive to their locale; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3930/16]
View answerThere are currently 12 Community Intervention Teams (CITs) in operation. The twelve operational CIT areas are Galway, Mid-West, Cork, Carlow/Kilkenny, Waterford, Dublin South East, Wicklow, Dublin South, Kildare, Louth, Meath and Dublin North. There is also a short-term CIT in place in South Tipperary which commenced on 20th January 2016.
In 2015, the HSE replaced the former Local Health Office structure with nine Community Healthcare Organisations (CHOs) in accordance with the recommendations of the CHO Report launched in October 2014. The only CHO area with no formal CIT in place at present is the North West, although work is currently underway to extend an existing service to cover Sligo during the Winter months. The longer-term plan is to have CITs in place on a country-wide basis as part of an extended range of Community Services to reduce unnecessary referrals to Acute Hospital Emergency Departments.
