THE Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly met with people attending the new Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Integrated Care Hub for older people at St Finbarr’s Health Campus in recent days.

The hub is one of two such hubs for older people in Cork and is part of the national Enhanced Community Care (ECC) programme.

Developed as part of implementing Sláintecare, the ECC programme aims to reduce pressure on services and dependence on the hospital-centric model of care through enhanced and increased community services.

The services at the St Finbarr’s hub in Cork city helps people aged 65 and over to stay safe and well in their own homes for as long as possible. This hub is home to both physical clinics and an outreach team, which is coordinated from the hub.

It provides services to older people with complex needs and frailty and gives them access to specialist multidisciplinary assessments for older people.

Minister Donnelly said:“The new model of care allows the specialist multidisciplinary team to engage and interact with services at community healthcare network level, supporting people in their diagnosis and ongoing care.”

Michael Fitzgerald, Chief Officer of Cork Kerry Community Healthcare said the hubs provide ‘high quality’ care.

“This hub, and other similar teams already in operation around Cork, allow us to provide high-quality care to older people as close as possible to home. It can give fast access to specialist services in the community for older people.

“I want to thank the staff who have worked to get this team up and running, and who are already making a difference in the lives of thousands of older people in Cork.

“The entire programme depends on collaboration between many parts of the health service, and the co-operation between HSE staff, GPs and others is clearly paying dividends here,” he added.

The service will see approximately 2,500 patients each year, with 200 new patients taken on each month.