Chronic disease accounts for no less than 80pc of all GP visits and 40pc of hospital admissions
The first thing you want to do when you read the 'strategic note' prepared by officials for the new health minister, Simon Harris, is go for a health check-up. For any middle-aged man (or woman), the passages related to lifestyle represent a sobering analysis.
The first realisation, however, is that for all the criticism, and all its shortcomings, the Department of Health seems to be well across the issues and is refreshingly honest in its presentation to the minister.
For example, it says the starting point for a more effective and integrated model of care is the development of comprehensive primary care and it describes the existing system as "unsustainable".
"To meet future health needs on a more sustainable basis, a much more effective and modern operating model will be required," it states.
The scale of the challenge facing the health service is also laid bare: Irish people are living longer. Between 2003 and 2013, life expectancy for men increased from 75.7 years to 79 and for women from 80.7 to 83.1.
"Population ageing is no longer a future eventuality - it is a present day reality that is being felt on the front-line of our health services," the note states.
Approximately 38pc of Irish people over 50 have one chronic disease (conditions which are not acquired from someone else and which are of long duration) and 11pc have more than one.
In fact, chronic disease accounts for 80pc of all GP visits, 40pc of hospital admissions, and 75pc of hospital bed days.
Source: Jody Corcoran, Irish Independent, 22/05/16
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