Community nurses are under severe strain, according to a report on the service from the Irish Nurses Organisation.

The report identifies that a lack of reform is preventing the service from meeting demands. The current challenges facing Community Care include a changing national demographic and earlier discharges from our acute hospitals.

The report's lead author, Dr Amanda Phelan says urgent service reform is needed:

''There's been a relative invisibility of what is actually happening in the community so this report addresses that. And the study which shows that community nurses are under considerable strain and they're unable to meet the population healthcare demands and that urgent service reform is imperative.''