A community mobile X-ray service has made a significant improvement in access to healthcare for older people in the mid-west in its first year, according to HSE Mid West.
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.
The service is delivered nationwide by private healthcare providers Mobile Medical Diagnostics Ltd.
The free 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 2,914 ambulance trips.
The average age of the patients visited was 84 years old.
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," she said.
"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 (University Hospital Limerick)."
The HSE expanded the community mobile X-ray service nationally last year in an effort to reduce the need for older people to visit hospitals or to need 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.
In urgent cases, 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.
