Ms Phil Ní Sheaghdha:

The community intervention teams are a great addition to community services. They provide a 365 day a year service on a 24-hour basis. They provide care in the home after discharge and sometimes pre-admission. The problem we have always had is in expanding this very good service to areas outside the restricted areas in which they work at present. There are not that many community intervention teams but where they exist their statistics demonstrate they make a major contribution to hospital avoidance. By default, a person can stay in his or her own home and be provided with the care required. In some instances where people attend an emergency department, there is a facility to have care provided through a community intervention team in the home. It makes perfect sense. It is the right model. Again, these teams are staffed by staff nurses and clinical nurse managers and are covered in the recruitment pause.