There are large inequalities in the supply of community health and social care services, such as GPs, social workers and nursing home beds, throughout the country, a new study has found.

According to the findings from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the lowest supply of these services can be found in the greater Dublin commuter belt area and the south east of the country.

The study looked at the supply of care available in the community, focusing on 10 key non-acute services in Ireland in 2014. These were GPs, community nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, podiatrists, counsellors and psychologists, social workers, nursing home beds, and home care hours.

The researchers compared the supply available in each county with the national average, in order to identify where supply was low. The study took into account factors that may have influenced the results such as age, disability and medical card holders.

The study found that in 2014, large inequalities existed when it came to the supply of all 10 services.

It pointed out that in general, healthcare supply was not allocated according to population need and the ESRI said that given that Ireland has not introduced a system of resource allocation based on population need in the years since 2014, "such inequalities are likely to persist".

The counties with the highest number of services with supply that was 10% below the national average were:
-Kildare (nine services below 10%)
-Meath, Wicklow and Wexford (eight services)
-Kilkenny, Waterford and Clare (seven services).

When it came to GPs, the county with the lowest number of full-time GPs per 10,000 people was Meath, while Cavan had the lowest number of counsellors and psychologists. The lowest number of homecare hours per population aged over 65 was recorded in south Dublin.

The researchers insisted that without better resources, inequalities in healthcare supply could have a negative impact on the implementation of the Government's healthcare plan, Sláintecare.

"Quantifying supply at the local level is vital to inform policymakers about those areas where greater provision of care is required. The findings demonstrate that in the absence of a national resource allocation system that relates supply to population need, inequalities in the supply of health and social care could impede progress towards proposed Sláintecare policies," commented one of the study's authors, Brendan Walsh.

The report, which was part of a project funded by the Health Research Board, can be viewed here.