Sending somebody over 75 into an ED isn't something we should be doing flippantly

CUH and St Finbarr’s Hospital have come up with initiatives to treat older people in community settings or in their own homes, reducing the need for trips to hospital as much as possible

Clinical lead at CUH in emergency medicine, Dr Conor Deasy

The community care of older people is desirable on a number of fronts, not least in alleviating the anxiety that can arise from a hospital stay. Geriatric consultant, Dr Norma Harnedy, who has been working as a consultant for nearly thirteen years and for the HSE since 2008, says she has seen a lot of changes in the care of older people.

"When I started, there were only four geriatric consultants working in CUH. Now, there is nearly double that." Along with developments at CUH for the care of older people, "we have developed the community aspect of it as well at St Finbar's Hospital. We provide a service whereby GPs or physicians in the ED at CUH can refer older patients to us directly that need assessment or a multi-disciplinary team. The aim is to provide an early review so that these older individuals can avoid going on waiting lists. We get them linked up with the community public health nurses."