TrendCare, the HSE’s smart rostering system, has now been deployed in 17 hospitals.
Implementation is progressing at a further 25 sites, including Section 38 organisations.
In a statement to Pulse+IT, the HSE said the acuity and dependency management system is being used “to support the implementation of the Framework for Safe Nurse Staffing and Skill Mix in General and Specialist Medical and Surgical Care Settings in Adult Hospitals in Ireland (Phase 1).”
“It provides validated data on patient acuity, dependency, and staffing levels, allowing hospitals to make evidence-based decisions about workforce planning, skill mix, and resource allocation. A national deployment programme is underway and is expected to have full deployment to all Phase 1 hospitals by Q1 2027.”
TrendCare was introduced in 2016, following a national pilot. A new national contract was awarded in 2020. The software uses patient demand and staff supply data to support real-time and forward planning decisions.
Data is integrated from the Patient Administration System (PAS), with each patient assigned an acuity level using standardised assessment tools. From this, care requirements are calculated in nursing hours per shift. Data from HR systems and eRostering platforms are combined to show available nursing hours for each shift.
The system then aligns care demand with staffing supply. Where a gap exists, this is identified at ward and shift level, allowing action to be taken.
Secure access is provided through Citrix and HSE Active Directory, with role-based controls aligned to staff responsibilities. User access is provisioned automatically from HR systems, and data visibility is restricted to individual organisations.
“TrendCare provides clear benefits across multiple areas,” the HSE said.
“For patient care, it ensures that staffing levels are aligned to clinical need, supporting improved safety and better outcomes. For the workforce, it enables fairer and more transparent workload allocation, helping to reduce fatigue and improve how staff are deployed.
“For organisations, TrendCare supports evidence-based decision making, reducing reliance on estimation or fixed staffing ratios. It also improves cost control through better alignment of resources to actual demand. At a national level, the system enables consistent measurement of care demand and provides comparable data across hospitals. This strengthens the foundation for workforce planning and policy development, ensuring that decisions are informed by reliable, standardised insights.”
“Overall, TrendCare represents a significant step forward in how nursing resources are planned and managed, supporting safer staffing and better outcomes across the health service,” the HSE said.
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