It might feel overwhelming to try to navigate the diabetes care provision in Ireland, in particular when finding out about diabetes diagnosis.
In Ireland, adult diabetes care is delivered through a combination of primary care, community, and hospital-based specialist services, providing the diverse service requirements of people living with Type 1 Diabetes, complex Type 2 diabetes, and other diabetes classifications.
Conversely, paediatric diabetes care is exclusively delivered in hospital-based services. Some centers, mainly in bigger cities, are centres of excellence, so sometimes your child might be referred further away from home, but care is always delivered by a hospital-based multidisciplinary team, including paediatric endocrinologist, diabetes nurse specialist or advanced nurse practitioner, dietitian and (in some clinics) psychologist.
For adults, care delivery is split between community and hospital care, and depends on many circumstances.
Primary care providers, particularly general practitioners (GPs), play a central role in managing uncomplicated diabetes or prediabetes, especially for those with Type 2 diabetes through the HSE Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Programme (which is a part of the Sláintecare reform), the National Framework for the Integrated Care Programme for Chronic Disease (ICPCD) and the Enhanced Community Care (ECC) Programmes.
If you are an adult with uncomplicated Type 2 diabetes, and are eligible to be included in the CDM Programme, you may receive structured, long-term care that includes regular check-ups, monitoring, medications, and guidance on health behaviours to support self-management.
For people with a Medical or GP visit card, the CDM programme helps with the management of their uncomplicated diabetes directly in GP practices, reducing the need for hospital visits. Those with Type 2 diabetes which require more complex intervention or to access structured diabetes education, are referred to the diabetes teams within the specialist community hubs, bringing specialised diabetes care closer to communities.
These multidiscipliary diabetes teams (serve as a bridge between primary care and hospital services, providing quicker access to specialist care and reducing strain on hospitals. The CSTs currently include integrated care consultant endocrinologists, nurses, dietitians and podiatrists.
Clinical psychologists are currently not included in the diabetes CST and this has been recognised as a gap in the HSE Integrated Model of Care for People with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (2024). As diabetes cases rise in Ireland, the integration of primary and community services aims to improve outcomes while enhancing accessibility and efficiency in diabetes care delivery.
For more complex cases of Type 2 diabetes, Type 1 diabetes and other diabetes classifications, care is provided by multidisciplinary diabetes teams (MDTs) in the hospital setting.
These specialised teams offer comprehensive support for care planning, blood glucose management, insulin therapy, and diabetes self-management education and support to reduce the risks of developing diabetes-related complications.
Only in some clinics (mainly paediatric), clinical psychology support is also offered.
The Chronic Disease Management Programme is currently available to individuals who meet the eligibility criteria and hold Medical/GP Visit/Health Amendment Act cards, as well as a small group of people with a history of GDM who are eligible for the CDM Prevention Programme.
Those who do not meet the eligibility criteria will incur out-of-pocket expenses for GP visits, blood tests, and other related costs. Referral to a Diabetes CST gives access to outcome-focused episodes of care and is not associated with additional costs to the patient. The acute care provided by MDTs in Irish hospitals for people with more complex cases of diabetes, both inpatient and outpatient, is also free of charge (aside from Emergency Department costs in certain situations).
A proportion of people with diabetes receive their diabetes care in private settings as part of their private health insurance.
In 2023 Diabetes Ireland conducted a survey focusing on accessing diabetes services in Ireland. Read the main findings to see what are people’s with diabetes experiences.
Figure 1.5.1 outlines potential care pathways for diabetes care in Ireland.
Figure adapted from the Diabetes Policy and Services Review 2025
