2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements
On Friday 26 July, we published our 2023 Annual Report and Financial Statements. 2023 was another year in which you went above and beyond to care for the people who use our services.
Our population increased by 1.9% (97,600 people) in 2023. We delivered health and social care services to an aging population, with life expectancy now at 84.3 years for women and 80.5 for men.
Mr Ciarán Devane, Chairman of the Board of the HSE, said:
“Our health service is continuing to deliver outcomes that are in many instances among the best in Europe. The quality of healthcare in the community services and hospital care provided by the HSE and our partners is recognised by the public, with Ireland reporting the highest self-perceived health status in the European Union.
A challenge now facing us is to ensure such positive trends for people’s health persist while working collectively to address known service capacity deficits impacting access to services and quality of care."
In 2023, we made significant progress on change and reform in the health service with the establishment of the 6 health regions.
By lining up acute and community-based services, health regions help us to provide care that is:
- integrated
- person-led
- community-first
Because of your work in 2023
- Over 1.19 million people were treated on a day case basis, a 5% increase on what was expected for 2023.
- There were 1.36 million new emergency department (ED) attendances. This is in line with 2022 activity and 1% above the 2023 target.
- Over 3.65 million people attended outpatient departments. This is an 8% increase on the target for 2023 and a 7% increase on 2022 activity.
- 1.7% of surgical re-admissions to the same hospital were within 30 days of discharge. This is in line with 2022 performance and 15% above the 2023 target.
- 86.6% of people waited less than 15 months for first access to outpatients department services.
- 95.9% of people who attended the ED remained there for less than 24 hours.
- 73.6% of adults waited less than 9 months for their elective inpatient procedure and 81.6% for their day case procedure.
- 63.6% of children waited less than 9 months for their planned inpatient procedure and 69.3% for their day case procedure
- People with disabilities accessed 45,424 day respite sessions. This is 60% above 2022 activity and 86% above the target for 2023.
- 3.54 million home support hours were delivered to people with disabilities. This is 13% above the 2023 target and 5% above 2022 activity.
- Over 22.1 million home support hours were provided to older persons.
Some new services launched in 2023
New Radiation Oncology Centre to benefit West and North West patients
A newly built 8,000sqm radiotherapy unit at University Hospital Galway will allow for an increase in capacity for radiotherapy treatments. The new technology also significantly increases the ability to accurately target and treat tumours.
Read more about the radiation oncology centre at University Hospital Galway
New care pathway provides vital supports for cardiac patients
The Enhanced Community Care (ECC) pathway for cardiology has been operational since March 2023 under the joint governance of the Saolta University Health Care Group and Community Healthcare West.
Work carried out by the Galway City Hub has resulted in 300 patients being removed from the Galway University Hospitals waiting list.
Read more about the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) pathway for cardiology
Mobile X-ray service benefits patients and reduces ED visits
This new community-based mobile X-ray service helps older patients avoid Emergency Departments. It improves quality of care and outcomes by bringing X-ray services directly to older people in the community.
Read more about the mobile X-ray service
Recruitment
In 2023, overall staffing levels increased by 8,240 full-time roles (Whole Time Equivalents), including:
- 1,064 medical and dental staff
- 2,628 nursing and midwifery staff
- 1,064 health and social care staff
- 1,213 staff working in other patient and client care
Spending
The HSE was allocated a budget of €21.6 billion for 2023, an increase of approximately €1 billion on the previous year. The capital budget was €1,157 million, of which €140 million was reserved specifically for ICT projects.