Health Service Executive

The Health Service Executive (HSE) manages all of the public health services in Ireland including personal social services.

The HSE services are delivered through:

• Medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, physiotherapists
• Hospitals
• Local Health Offices
• Health centres
• Clinics at community level

The health services include:

• Promoting good health
• Preventing illness (such as food safety services, immunisation and vaccinations services, health screening, infant and child health services)
• Diagnosing and treating illness (such as by family doctor (GP) services, hospital services)

The HSE is also responsible for community care and personal social services to help people remain living in their communities, especially when they have difficulties doing so because of illness, disability or age.  These include:

• Home nursing services
• Home helps
• Occupational therapy
• Social work services

The HSE also has a role in preventing infectious diseases when they occur.

Starting in 2024, the HSE services will be organised into 6 health regions. Each region will manage all integrated health services in its area. By the end of 2024, the current hospital groups and community healthcare services (CHOs) will merge into these new health regions.

The HSE will be responsible for nationally delivered clinical and supporting services and nationally consistent standards and guidelines.

The Department of Health will be responsible for setting health policy and strategy and overseeing health funding.

The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) will be responsible for policy, legislation and funding for specialist community-based disability services.

You can read about the current divisions, hospital groups and community healthcare services below. This page will be updated as the new health regions come into effect.

The HSE delivers health and social care services through National Service Delivery Divisions that deliver services to the public through:

• Acute hospitals
• Social care
• Mental health
• Primary care
• Health and wellbeing
• National Ambulance Service

National Service Delivery Divisions

The Acute Hospitals Division works directly with acute hospitals across the country. Public hospitals are organised into 7 Hospital Groups – see below.

The Social Care Division supports people to live independently who may have difficulty in doing so due to illness or disability. The HSE delivers these services directly or through agencies funded by the HSE.

The Mental Health Division aims to provide mental health services by area. Services may be through inpatient centres or community-based teams. These include:

• Child and adolescent mental health
• General adult mental health
• Psychiatry of old age
• National Forensic Mental Health Service
• National Counselling Service
• National Office for Suicide Prevention.

The Primary Care Division ensures that most people who need healthcare are cared for outside of hospital within primary care, such as through their family doctor (GP) and in the community.

The Health and Wellbeing Division focuses on protecting and improving health such as:

• Public health measures
• Heath protection
• Child health measures
• National screening programmes such as CervicalCheck and BowelScreen
• Health promotion and improvement
• Environmental health such as food safety
• Emergency management such as an event which may cause death or injury.

Acute hospital services are provided through 7 hospital groups:

• Ireland East Hospitals Group
• Dublin Midlands Hospitals Group
• RCSI Hospital Group (Dublin North East)
• University of Limerick Hospitals
• South/South West Hospitals Group
• Saolta Healthcare Group (Galway, Roscommon, Mayo, Donegal, Sligo)
• Children’s Hospital Group

The hospitals in each group work together to provide acute care for patients and work with health and social care services in the community.

Local smaller hospitals can deliver care where appropriate. Specialised and complex care is provided in larger hospitals.

The HSE provides Community healthcare services locally within the community and include:

• Primary care such as GPs and local health offices
• Social care
• Mental health
• Health and wellbeing services

These services are delivered to people in local communities through the HSE and its funded agencies.

There are 9 Community Healthcare Organisations (CHOs) that deliver services in primary care and community-based services.  The CHOs are:

• Area 1: Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, West Cavan, Cavan, Monaghan.
• Area 2: Galway, Roscommon, Mayo.
• Area 3: Clare, Limerick, North Tipperary/East Limerick
• Area 4: Kerry, North Cork, North Lee, South Lee, West Cork
• Area 5: South Tipperary, Carlow Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford
• Area 6: Wicklow, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin South East
• Area 7: Kildare/West Wicklow, Dublin West, Dublin South City, Dublin South West
• Area 8: Laois/Offaly, Longford/West Meath, Louth, Meath
• Area 9: Dublin North, Dublin North Central, Dublin North West

You can access community health and personal social services through one of the 32 Local Health Offices and local health centres around the country.

The Local Health Offices and health centres provide services such as:

• General practitioner (GP) services
• Public health nursing
• Child health services
• Community welfare
• Chiropody and podiatry (for foot and lower limbs)
• Ophthalmic therapy (for the eye)
• Speech therapy
• Social work
• Addiction counselling and treatment
• Physiotherapy
• Occupational therapy
• Psychiatric services
• Home help

You can access hospital services through your GP or family doctor, except for Accident and Emergency services.

Find more on who can access public health services.

Find more about dental, hearing and eye health services.

Read more about the HSE National Service Plan 20024 (pdf).