How does Irish Healthcare Expenditure compare internationally?

Abstract

The mission of the Economic and Social Research Institute is to advance evidencebased policymaking that supports economic sustainability and social progress in Ireland. ESRI researchers apply the highest standards of academic excellence to challenges facing policymakers, focusing on 12 areas of critical importance to 21st century Ireland. The Institute was founded in 1960 by a group of senior civil servants led by Dr T.K. Whitaker, who identified the need for independent and in-depth research analysis to provide a robust evidence base for policymaking in Ireland. Since then, the Institute has remained committed to independent research and its work is free of any expressed ideology or political position. The Institute publishes all research reaching the appropriate academic standard, irrespective of its findings or who funds the research. The quality of its research output is guaranteed by a rigorous peer review process. ESRI researchers are experts in their fields and are committed to producing work that meets the highest academic standards and practices. The work of the Institute is disseminated widely in books, journal articles and reports. ESRI publications are available to download, free of charge, from its website. Additionally, ESRI staff communicate research findings at regular conferences and seminars. The ESRI is a company limited by guarantee, answerable to its members and governed by a Council, comprising 14 members who represent a cross-section of ESRI members from academia, civil services, state agencies, businesses and civil society. The Institute receives an annual grant-in-aid from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to support the scientific and public interest elements of the Institute's activities; the grant accounted for an average of 30 per cent of the Institute's income over the lifetime of the last Research Strategy. The remaining funding comes from research programmes supported by government departments and agencies, public bodies and competitive research programmes.

Projections of expenditure for primary, community and long-term care Ireland, 2019-2035, based on the Hippocrates model

“…It includes services provided in the community such as general practice, public health nursing (PHN), community-based therapies, and long-term care (Smith et al, 2019). Services provided in long-term care are often characterised as social care (Wren and Fitzpatrick, 2020).…”

“…Projected demand for these services was included in a preceding report (Wren et al, 2017), and has been shown to account for a significant amount of care in Ireland. In addition, delivery of these services involves a sizeable proportion of the frontline health and social care workforce in Ireland (Smith et al, 2019), as well as accounting for a high proportion of the total health and social care budget (Wren and Fitzpatrick, 2020).…”

“…These long-term care services are increasingly seen as forms of social care, where people are supported in their everyday lives, either in their own homes or in LTRC homes. These services represent a large part of health and social care expenditure in Ireland (Wren and Fitzpatrick, 2020). In the population aged 65 years and older, over 4 per cent use LTRC (Wren et al, 2017) while over 9 per cent are in receipt of home support (Walsh and Lyons, 2021).…”

“…preventive care, pharmaceutical goods). In addition, Wren and Fitzpatrick (2020) have found that Ireland's healthcare expenditure includes healthcare-related expenditure (HCRE) on services such as the social components of long-term care (social care) which some other countries account for outside healthcare expenditure. In this report, as we do not include all services included across the four function care categories of the SHA, we do not compare results from our analysis to Wren and Fitzpatrick (2020).…”

Developments in healthcare information systems in Ireland and internationally

“…To provide context in which to frame a discussion of the healthcare system data infrastructure in Ireland, we provide a brief overview of the healthcare system itself. A number of recent ESRI publications discuss some of the specific parts of the system in greater detail (Keane et al, 2021;Nolan et al, 2014;Smith et al, 2019;Walsh et al, 2019a;Walsh et al, 2019b;Wren and Fitzpatrick, 2020;.…”