Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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374. To ask the Minister for Health the status of the HSE’s enhanced community care plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41028/20]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Budget 2020 allocated an initial €10million rising to €180million in Budget 2021 in order to roll out the enhanced care community programme. This will allow the health service to reduce reliance on acute hospitals as a point of service access and reorient service delivery towards general practice, primary care and community-based services, as appropriate, in order to deliver the right care, in the right place, at the right time, by the right team. Once fully in place, the measures planned will help people to stay in their homes and community for longer, either preventing hospital admissions or allowing for discharge earlier than would have been possible without these supports.

In 2021, the enhanced community care programme will continue the establishment of 96 Community Healthcare Networks and 32 Community Specialist Teams for older people and people living with chronic disease/lifelong conditions. It will support the redesign of care pathways to make care more accessible in the community including the expansion of, Community Intervention Teams and specialist, integrated care teams such as the Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) and Chronic Disease Management (CDM). These measures will also see 2,000+ staff recruited, with a particular focus on nursing and community therapists such as physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Speech and Language Therapists.