A widow has said that while the hospice system is a fantastic service, out-of-hours support services need improvement.
Olivia Rigney's husband, Ivan, died last year, having been diagnosed with stomach cancer four years earlier.
She said he was treated very successfully, but unfortunately became unwell at the start of last year.
Olivia said the hospice system is a fantastic service in Ireland and that at the end of life, it was like a big hug around Ivan as a patient and also the family.
Ivan did not spend time in the hospice system itself, but he had access to the community nurses.
She said that the support psychologically is very important when a loved one is dying, and the service is there in the background to support families.
Olivia, who lives in Stepaside, Co Dublin, said one of the key issues for patients at home, towards the end of life, is the out-of-hours support, where improvements could be made.
She said that accessing out-of-hours care can require going to an emergency department.
"We had numbers that we could phone. And they were always answered, and the nurses were always super helpful," she said.
"But inevitably the thing was, we need to see you, Ivan needs to come in. And when it was out of hours, the only way to access the hospital was through the emergency department."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
She said no one wants to go to an emergency department at the best of times, but definitely not when they are so sick and in a lot of pain.
Olivia said this is an area she would definitely like to see addressed so that patients have access to the hospital through another route other than through the emergency department.
She added that being at home was also a big responsibility for her to watch her husband, and she found it a very lonely time.
This was not in the context of family and friends around for support, but because she did not have a medical background and was unsure if she needed to call for help at times.
Ivan spent ten weeks of his last three months in hospital, and Olivia said she could push a button there and knew that a doctor or nurse would come, but at home, that created the loneliness factor.
She said that overall, the hospice system is very supportive and very experienced nurses visited their home and brought a great level of comfort around that.
Committed to delivering timely palliative care
The HSE said it is committed to delivering timely and high-quality palliative care and end of life care to patients and their families.
It said that last year, it delivered community specialist palliative care to over 15,000 patients in their own homes and 4,500 patients in hospices across six health regions.
It also said it delivered training in all health regions to support health care staff communicate effectively with patients and families, including at the end of life.
The HSE added that it has progressed plans for new hospices in the Midlands, Drogheda and Cavan, as well as redeveloping North West Hospice Sligo.
Construction on a 16-bed Hospice in Cavan commenced in May 2025, and planning permission for a 20-bed Hospice in Tullamore was granted last month.
The HSE said it delivered palliative care to over 300 children and their families in their own homes last year, and that it increased the specialist palliative care workforce by 60 additional staff.
Read More: Major investment in palliative care services needed - IHF
