12-05-2025
Ireland 'lagging behind' other countries on electronic health records
Ireland is at least a decade away from having electronic health records for patients in acute hospitals, if the country waits for the current health service plan to be implemented, an international conference in Maynooth University has heard.
Director of the Digital Health Ecosystem, Professor Martin Curley, said everyone in Ireland should be provided with an electronic health record on their phone.
He said that the technology is there now to build a world class digital health system.
He said it would mean for every patient would have one record, whether they go to their pharmacy, an Emergency Department or attend their general practitioner (GP).
Prof Curley said this would allow all the clinicians to see the medical records and give patients the power to better manage their own health.
He added that his criticism of waiting for the current health service plan to be implemented was not said to embarrass the HSE or the Department of Health.
Prof Curley said the core tools exist and are in use, but what is missing is a national-scale rollout and full integration between hospitals, GPs, pharmacies, and patients.
The international digital health conference at Maynooth University heard that Ireland lags significantly behind other countries in digital health records.
Experts said that paper records can be lost, be illegible, or can be hard to locate.
Electronic records can be accessed in any part of the system at any time and be instantly updated.
Dr John Sheehan of Blackrock Health said that with a modest initial investment of €10 million, Ireland can create a scalable digital health system, mirroring Estonia's successful model.
Among the 10 innovations showcased at the conference were: Smartwatch technology that tells a health service if a patient has fallen; an early sepsis detection system and automated sending of GP encounter notes to a patient's phone, before they leave the doctors' surgery.
Experts at the conference say relying on paper records is outdated and carries risks and also means Ireland is not meeting its obligations under GDPR law.
