HSE publishes 2024 Annual Report: Advancing reform to deliver better care

The HSE has today, Friday 25th July, published its 2024 Annual Report and Financial Statements, highlighting the continued delivery of health and social care services to a growing and ageing population, alongside the most significant structural reform of the health service in two decades.

The report outlines the HSE’s performance across acute and community services, progress on the implementation of the six new Health Regions and the challenges of meeting rising demand in a constrained financial environment. It also details the organisation’s work to improve access, reduce waiting times and deliver care closer to home.

In 2024, Ireland’s population grew by approximately 100,000 people, reaching 5.38 million. The number of people aged 65 and over has increased by 37% since 2015 and life expectancy now stands at 82.6 years—above the EU average.

Despite these demographic pressures, the HSE delivered significant improvements in emergency care, community-based supports and digital transformation, while continuing to address long-standing challenges in scheduled care and disability services.

Commenting on the 2024 Annual Report, HSE Chairman Ciarán Devane said:

“Our health service continues to deliver positive outcomes that are among the best in Europe. The establishment of the six Health Regions in 2024 marks a major step forward in delivering integrated, person-centred care. While challenges remain, particularly in access and capacity in both health care and disability services , we are committed to building a system that delivers high-quality care for all, closer to home. We continue to focus on improving efficiency and increasing productivity – supporting our staff to make the best use of their skills and resources.”

HSE CEO Bernard Gloster added:

“2024 was a year of real progress. We reduced the number of people waiting on trolleys by over 10%, expanded community services and improved access to scheduled care with an additional 24,000 patients seen within target timeframes. Our focus in 2025 will be to build on this momentum, improve patient flow and continue to reform how care is delivered across seven days.”

Highlights from the HSE 2024 Annual Report

Our Population

It is estimated that 5.38 million people live in Ireland, an increase of approximately 100,000 in 12 months:

• life expectancy is now 82.6 years, ahead of the EU average of 80.6 years
• the population aged 65 and over has increased by 37% since 2015
• the burden of chronic disease and cancer remains high, particularly among older adults

Acute Services

• 3.98 million new and return outpatient attendances - 9% above 2023 activity
• 1.47 million new ED attendances - 8% above 2023 activity
• 10.8% reduction in the number of people on trolleys across 2024
• 73.2% of adults waiting less than 9 months for elective inpatient procedures
• 352 critical care beds available - a 6.7% increase on 2023

Community Healthcare

• 1.56 million people covered by medical cards as at 31 December
• 111,705 total Community Intervention Team referrals - 16% above 2023 activity
• 89.9% of children aged 24 months received the MMR vaccine - 0.5% above 2023 performance
• Integrated Care for Older People community specialist teams delivered 133,000 patient contacts helping to avoid admission to hospital
• 93.6% of urgent referrals to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Teams responded to within three working days

Disability Services

A major priority for the HSE is to significantly improve access for children and families to services. While there is still much to do, progress is being made.

• 64,162 day-only respite sessions accessed by people with a disability - 41% above 2023 activity
• 3.85 million home support hours delivered to people with a disability - 9% above 2023 activity
• 148,000 additional personal assistant hours and 300,000 additional home support hours delivered.
• 93 Children’s Disability Network Teams supported 43,000 children, including 10,281 children new to the service.
• A net growth of 963 staff working in HSE and Section 38 disability services

Human Resources

In 2024, the HSE workforce grew to 148,268 whole-time equivalents (WTEs), representing a 1.6% increase on 2023. This included:

• an increase of 767 WTEs in medical and dental staff, bringing the total to over 14,500
• an increase of 1,442 WTEs in nursing and midwifery, with over 47,600 staff employed
• over 21,400 health and social care professionals employed, an increase of 645 WTEs
• almost 30,000 WTEs working in other patient and client care roles, an increase of 116 WTEs
• a reduction in management,  administrative and support staff of 687 WTEs

This growth reflects the continued investment in frontline services and the implementation of new models of care across acute and community settings.

Finance

The HSE’s expenditure in 2024 was €26.95 billion, an increase of €2.2 billion on the previous year. This included capital expenditure of €1.39 billion, of which €155 million was specifically for ICT projects.

In response to growing cost pressures, the HSE and the Department of Health jointly established a Productivity and Savings Taskforce in January 2024. This taskforce focused on identifying and implementing efficiency measures across the health system.

Digital Health and Capital Infrastructure

In 2024, the HSE made significant progress in modernising its digital and physical infrastructure to support the delivery of integrated, patient-centred care.

The publication of the Digital Health Strategic Implementation Roadmap in July 2024 set out a clear path for the integration of digital technologies across the health system. Key developments included:

• the limited public release of the new HSE Health App
• continued progress on the National Electronic Health Record (EHR) programme
• the expansion of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which processed over 7.5 million transactions and released more than 800,000 staff hours

On the capital side, the HSE completed 76 infrastructure projects, including:

• 34 acute hospital projects, such as a new 16-bed emergency ward in University Hospital Limerick
• 42 community-based projects, including new primary care centres and mental health residential units

Significant progress was made on the development of six surgical hubs and the new National Maternity Hospital.