Launching the Community Care Record moving from discovery to delivery

The HSE Community Care Record programme was successfully launched with a national webinar on Monday 26 January, welcoming over 1,500 colleagues from across the organisation, and 220 new members to the Change Network, bringing our total to over 1,600.

What was the purpose of this webinar? 

The webinar marked an important milestone for the Community Care Record as it moves from discovery to delivery. The session, chaired by Programme Director Priscilla Crombie, was designed to create a shared understanding of the programme, setting out clearly what Community Care Record is, why it is being introduced, and how it will work on a practical level. While many staff have been involved in shaping the programme, the webinar provided an opportunity for all staff to align on the purpose, scope and approach to delivery.  

What was discussed? 

HSE Deputy CEO and Chief Technology and Transformation Officer Damien McCallion explained that Community Care Record is part of a wider journey to modernise community services through the Digital for Care programme, and the future One Health Record. He also highlighted why this programme is essential. Community services have long relied on fragmented systems and paper-based records, making it difficult for staff to access information and for patients to experience joined-up care. Community Care Record will provide a single, shared digital record for community services, allowing information to be recorded once and accessed securely by those involved in a person’s care. 

Importantly, the programme also supports patients directly. As information from Community Care Record feeds into the HSE Health App, initially people will be able to see their appointments in one place, helping them to be more informed and engaged in their own care.  

Dr. Andy Phillips, Regional Executive Officer for HSE Southwest, spoke about the importance of strong governance and leadership as delivery begins. He acknowledged that it would involve real change for staff. While these changes are significant, they are essential to achieving more coordinated and safer care. 

Following on from this, Clinical Lead Dr. Tom Foley spoke about what Community Care Record means in practice drawing from his experience as Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) consultant in Donegal. Some services will start with service management features that will provide immediate patient, clinical and operational benefits to the broad community service landscape. Others, such as CAMHS and Specialist Palliative Care, will in addition receive advanced clinical functionality supporting medication management and more advanced clinical documentation for these service areas. Finally, Tom noted that this programme will enable integrated care and help prepare the community workforce for the One Health Record. Rollout will be phased by region to ensure services are ready, with local support in place and training provided to everyone before go-live. 

HSE Chief Information Officer, Fran Thompson then took the floor, focusing on the information and technology foundations of the programme. Moving away from multiple ageing systems towards a single national solution reduces risk, strengthens information governance, and improves resilience.  

Your questions answered 

To wrap up, we were joined by Professor Richard Greene, Chief Clinical Information Officer, and Gary Mooney, InterSystems for a panel discussion, addressing common questions. The panel discussion reinforced a shared message: fragmented information is one of the greatest risks in community care today. This programme is a significant step towards more coordinated and safer community care, shaped by staff and delivered with patients and service users at its centre.

Wrapping up

Following the webinar, all attendees received a link to localised leaders’ messages, as well as briefing packs. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the speakers and panellists, as well as all attendees. You can catch up on the recording here.

If you are a staff member and interested in joining the Change Network, please email CommunityCareRecord@hse.ie