Mobile X-ray service helps older patients avoid ED
Published: 19 May 2026
- Up to 1,457 hospital presentations avoided in first year of service in Mid West
- 1,527 patient visits and 2,020 X-rays provided by mobile service from March 2025 to April 2026
A community mobile X-ray service has made a significant improvement in access to healthcare for older persons in the Mid West in its first year, having provided crucial time-saving rapid diagnostics on more than 1,500 visits to a range of community healthcare facilities across the region.
In the 12 months to the end of March 2026, the mobile x-ray service made 1,527 patient visits to private nursing homes and community nursing units; community-based disability and mental health services; as well as elderly patients with physical or cognitive impairments who live at home with family carers or with HSE supports.
Delivered nationwide by private healthcare providers Mobile Medical Diagnostics Ltd, the free community mobile X-ray service provided 2,020 X-rays between April 2025 and March 2026, avoiding up to 1,457 hospital presentations and a potential total of 2,914 ambulance trips. The average age of the patients visited was 84 years old, and the number of healthcare facilities using the Mid West has increased from 35 in April 2025 to 40 in March 2026.
The HSE expanded the community mobile X-ray service nationally last year in an effort to reduce the need for older people to visit hospital and ambulance trips, resulting in more timely diagnosis and treatment and improved access to healthcare for older adults. The service is part of the broader Enhanced Community Care (ECC) initiative, a core element of the Sláintecare ‘right care, right place, right time’ objective of providing healthcare closer to people’s homes.
A GP-referral ‘same-day’ service, all types of X-rays are provided, including chest, hip/pelvis, knee, wrist and shoulder. In urgent cases, for example, if an older resident of a care facility has a fall or requires a chest x-ray, the radiographer will arrive on-site and conduct the x-ray in the service-user’s own room, and share a report with the referring doctor within four hours. Referrals are triaged with the nursing home and GP to ensure timely diagnosis and treatment.
The majority of the service’s activity in the Mid West from April 2025 to March 2026 was in the Co Clare & Co Limerick Integrated Healthcare Area (IHA) with 1,193 x-rays completed. In the Limerick City & North Tipperary IHA, a total of 827 x-rays were completed by the mobile service in this time period.
Patricia O’Gorman, Head of Service, HSE Mid West Older Persons Services, welcomed the improvement the mobile service has made in healthcare access for elderly people across the region:
“The importance of bringing diagnostics to the people cannot be over-estimated for elderly residents and others who are frail, less mobile and less able to attend hospital. The mobile service is really beneficial when a doctor perhaps requires only an X-ray to support a diagnosis, because it means people can stay in their communities and avoid attending hospital or perhaps a prolonged wait in ED. The figures underline the importance of delivering key healthcare services safely where people are at, and are also helpful in supporting the quality and efficiency of urgent and emergency care services within UHL.”
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