The €150m allocated to enhance community services will be used to help re-orientate the delivery of primary and community care in line with the vision of Sláintecare by providing people with the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
Among other things, this funding will
- allow for the rollout of Community Healthcare Networks across the country to support a community first and Home First approach to care based on the needs of local populations;
- provide for Community Specialist Teams that will serve older persons and provide chronic disease management in the community;
- enable the expansion of Community Intervention Teams nationwide; and
- support a network of 20 Community Assessment Hubs that will provide assessment services to COVID-19 patients and provide treatment to patients with non-COVID-19 related respiratory illnesses.
The precise allocation of funding across these different programmes will be determined as part of the HSE’s National Service Planning process for 2021.