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The Department of Health has today (Thursday) published the 10th edition of Health in Ireland: Key Trends 2017.

Health in Ireland Key Trends gives us an insight into trends for demographics, population health, hospital and primary care, health service employment and expenditure.
In this 2017 report, trends from the last decade highlight significant achievements that Ireland has made for key outcomes relating to the health and wellbeing of the population. However, it also highlights the challenges that persist in terms of the accessibility of timely healthcare.

In welcoming this report, Minister for Health Simon Harris said:

"Health in Ireland Key Trends gives us the opportunity to assess the performance of the Irish health system, and highlights where things are going well, and where we need to improve. It also shows the importance of good quality data and evidence to health professionals and policy makers alike in providing a high-quality health service for all our population.”

“I'm particularly struck by the continued reduction in mortality rates from main causes of death such as heart disease, stroke and cancer which have led to an improvement in life expectancy in Ireland of nearly 2.5 years in the last decade. The contribution of modern health services to the improvements in health outcomes has been significant. However I also acknowledge that we still have issues of access to our health services that need to be addressed to lower the time patients can expect to wait for treatment.”

“Another striking, and welcome, feature is that we are living longer. Every year the 65 and over age group increases by 20,000 people. This trend is set to continue into the future and will have implications for future planning and health service delivery. The largest proportional increases in the population in Ireland will be in the category of those aged 85 years and older. The number of people aged 65 and over will grow from one-fifth to over one-third of the working population over the next 2 decades which will have implications for how we fund our health services.”

“In order to be able to provide high-quality services as our population continues to age, we need to have the ability to assess the performance of the health system in a way that ensures that valuable and finite health care resources are used in the most efficient way possible and that people can access high-quality care in a reasonable time. The main aim of any performance assessment should be to improve the health status of the population, with people continuing to live longer, healthier lives.”

http://health.gov.ie/blog/publications/health-in-ireland-key-trends-2017/