Ballinasloe, an east Galway market town on the River Suck, recorded 6,597 residents at the last census. 18.9% of them, 1,247 people, were 65 or older. The census records 334 unpaid carers in the town, 5.1% of the population, and 1,682 people (25.5%) with a disability. Census 2022 counted 42,886 people aged 65 or over in County Galway, a rise of 22.9% since 2016 that is close to the national rise of 22%. Of the over-65s in private households in County Galway, 10,297 live on their own. That is 25.8% and in line with the national 25.9%.
For HSE purposes the area belongs to HSE West and North West (Galway and Roscommon area). Families and providers seeking HSE home support hours deal with the HSE Home Support Office in Galway (2nd Floor, La Nua, Ballybane, Galway H91 VE03, telephone 091 748 474). The out-of-hours GP service for the area is Westdoc. Our research lists 20 home care provider offices in County Galway, run by 20 providers. Among the names are Dovida, Bluebird Care, Caremark, Comfort Keepers and Right at Home. Roscommon is 33 km from the town, so a client's family may well ring an agency based in either.
For hospital discharges the closest acute sites on the HSE list are Portiuncula University Hospital and University Hospital Galway. For palliative care, see Galway Hospice Foundation and Galway Community Specialist Palliative Care Team. A family who rings and gets a clear answer remembers the agency that picked up. If the manager is also the on-call nurse, the first answer to a call does not have to come from the manager. County Galway has Irish-speaking communities in Conamara and the Aran Islands. If your agency serves them, ask us at the demo how the phone line can handle Irish.