A community-based mobile X-ray service has delivered a notable improvement in healthcare access for elderly people across the mid-west region in its first year of operation, according to HSE Mid West.
The mobile X-ray service completed 1,527 patient visits to private nursing homes and community nursing units, as well as community-based disability and mental health facilities, and to elderly patients with physical or cognitive difficulties who are cared for at home by family members, reports RTE.
The service is operated nationwide by private healthcare provider Mobile Medical Diagnostics Ltd.
The complimentary mobile X-ray service delivered 2,020 X-rays between April 2025 and March 2026, preventing up to 1,457 hospital attendances and a potential 2,914 ambulance journeys, reports RTE.
The average age of patients seen was 84 years old.
Patricia O’Gorman, Head of Service at HSE Mid West Older Persons Services, welcomed the meaningful difference the mobile service has made to healthcare access for older people across the region.
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“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, reports RTE.
“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),” reports RTE.
The HSE extended the community mobile X-ray service nationwide last year in a bid to reduce the need for older people to attend hospitals or require ambulance transport, enabling more timely diagnosis and treatment and better healthcare access for older adults.
The service forms part of the broader Enhanced Community Care (ECC) initiative, a central pillar of the Sláintecare ‘right care, right place, right time’ goal of bringing healthcare closer to where people live, reports RTE.
In emergency situations, if an older resident of a care facility suffers a fall or needs a chest X-ray, a radiographer will travel to the facility and carry out the X-ray in the service-user’s own room, with a report sent to the referring doctor within four hours.
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