ANNUAL REPORT The Health Service Executive Annual Report and Financial Statements 2020 was published in July. The report describes the exceptionally challenging context in which services were delivered in 2020 and outlines our longer-term vision and direction.
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t also describes how services were delivered during the year, summarises performance against our National Service Plan 2020, and elaborates on the key enablers for making change happen. It provides an overview of key governance and accountability arrangements within the HSE, including a Board Members’ Report and Risk Management Report for 2020. The report also provides detailed financial information about our organisation through the Annual Financial Statements. The HSE is responsible for providing healthcare to the population of Ireland. The population is growing across all regions and age groups, with the most significant growth seen in the older age groups. Life expectancy in Ireland is now above the EU average, demonstrating the success achieved in supporting people to maintain good health as well as providing access to effective healthcare services during illness. In 2020, despite the necessary focus on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, work continued to ensure a balance between responding to illness and enabling good health and disease prevention. COVID-19 pandemic and HSE response
The emergence of COVID-19 changed the focus of healthcare systems in Ireland. Due to the novel nature of the virus and the scale of the pandemic, the HSE, like many other public health systems, has been on a steep learning curve. However, we have some of the best-trained staff in the world and this, together with high levels of motivation right across the organisation, has helped us, particularly during the more acute phases of this pandemic. We mobilised a public health response following the confirmation of the first positive case in Ireland, with the first death related to COVID-19 reported on March 11th 2020. Very sadly, the pandemic claimed the lives of over 2,200 people in Ireland in 2020 – fellow citizens who will always be remembered. The pandemic necessitated a range of new services and new ways of working to be introduced at pace to respond to the health needs of the population and to protect staff.
Key Act iv ity in 2 02 0
Almost 1.6m people with a medical card
Almost 530,000 people with a GP visit card
91.6% of children aged 24 months received the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine
984 people admitted to homeless emergency accommodation hostels/facilities had their health needs assessed within two weeks
Over 17.5m home support hours (excluding hours from intensive home care packages) delivered to almost 53,000 people
75 people with a disability transitioned from congregated settings
10,456 children / adolescents seen by child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS)
Almost 24,000 adults seen by mental health services
Over 3,200 people accessed specialist palliative inpatient beds within seven days
If you would like further information on the HSE’s Annual Report, please contact the team in the Planning Unit, Office of the National Director, Strategy and Research at planning.ddg@hse.ie or telephone 021-4923549. A PowerPoint presentation, that includes slides on the infographics for healthcare activity in 2020 has been prepared as a resource for staff to use in presentations and reports and this is also available from the Planning Unit.
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