Home care firms want HSE to end home support allocation model

Home & Community Care Ireland say current system is 'structurally flawed, prioritises speed over quality, restricts genuine client choice, and creates an unnecessary administrative burden'

Under the model, the HCCI said that home care referrals are issued simultaneously to all approved providers, who must respond immediately to secure the allocation.

The association representing home care providers has called on the HSE to end its home support allocation model, which it claims creates an “unnecessary administrative burden”.

Home & Community Care Ireland (HCCI), which represents independent private and non-profit home care providers, wants to see the phasing out of the HSE’s model for allocating home care hours.

Under the model, HCCI said home care referrals are issued simultaneously to all approved providers, who must respond immediately to secure the allocation.

System 'structurally flawed' 

“Providers are required to accept 70% of referrals to remain authorised, despite typically securing only 11% to 25%. Allocations are made solely on response speed rather than suitability, staff training, client preference, or provider capacity,” the HCCI said.

The association warned the system is “structurally flawed, prioritises speed over quality, restricts genuine client choice, and creates an unnecessary administrative burden”.

The HCCI said reforming the current referral model is essential to “delivering a sustainable, fair, and person-centred home support system aligned with Sláintecare and the needs of Ireland’s ageing population”.

Care should 'not be a race'

HCCI chief executive Joseph Musgrave said home care should “not be a race” and the current system “rewards speed rather than suitability, and that is not how high-quality, person-centred care should be allocated”. 

He added: “As Ireland prepares for the statutory home support scheme and a new regulatory framework, we have an opportunity and an obligation to design a system that prioritises dignity, flexibility, and client choice.”

The statutory home support scheme is a series of policy proposals, committed to by successive governments, to provide and protect access to care in people’s homes, enabling them to stay at home for as long as possible.

The HCCI is calling for a “nationwide client choice model”, building on consumer-directed home support, which has operated in parts of Ireland since 2018. It said this allows clients to choose their provider and agree flexible visit times, improving alignment between needs and skills and making better use of capacity.