County Donegal

Home care answering service in Buncrana.

For home care providers in County Donegal and the HSE West and North West region: a home care answering service run by Hettie, answering every night, with urgent and emergency calls reaching a person at minute 0.

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From €2 per active patient per monthNo setup feeFour escalation levels
Local picture

Home care in Buncrana and County Donegal.

Buncrana is a seaside town on Lough Swilly in Inishowen. The 2022 census counted 6,971 people there, 1,142 of them (16.4%) aged 65 or over. Around 27.8% of older people in private households in County Donegal live alone (7,734 people), 1.9 points above the national 25.9%. Census 2022 counted 29,623 people aged 65 or over in County Donegal, a rise of 18.5% since 2016 that is 3.3 points below the national rise of 22%. 2.2% of residents rated their health as bad or very bad, and 483 people (6.9%) provide regular unpaid care.

For HSE purposes the area belongs to HSE West and North West and the Donegal Integrated Health Area. The HSE Home Support Office in Donegal handles home support requests for the area: St Conal's Hospital, Letterkenny F92 FW6Y, 074 910 4775. At night the GP out-of-hours service is Nowdoc. The county list we built has 6 offices from 6 home care providers. The better-known names on the county list are Dovida, Bluebird Care, Brindley Healthcare Services Ltd and Platinum Home Care. A small field of providers means each one covers a wide area, and an agency with carers spread over a wide area needs one number that is always answered.

The acute hospital nearest the area on the HSE list is Letterkenny University Hospital. Palliative support for the area is organised through Donegal Hospice and Donegal Community Specialist Palliative Care Team. Winter evenings come early, and an older person on their own can feel far from help. A number that always answers helps. If the only nurse on call is out on a visit, Hettie keeps taking calls and writes every one up for the morning. Some callers in County Donegal may prefer Irish, especially around Gaoth Dobhair and Cloch Cheann Fhaola. Mention it when you talk to us about the service.

Sources: CSO Census 2022, towns by age; CSO, age by county and city (FY006B); CSO, over-65s living alone (FY010B); HSE health regions; HSE hospital list; HSE home support listing, Donegal; Palliative care listing: Donegal Hospice; Palliative care listing: Donegal Community Specialist Palliative Care Team; Out-of-hours GP co-op: Nowdoc; provider counts from HSE: choosing an approved provider; HCCI Find Care Near Me (Hettie research, 14 to 15 October 2026, not an official register; the providers named have no relationship with Hettie). Checked 16 October 2026.

What you get

What Hettie does for a Buncrana agency.

Five modules across the care journey. Start with the after-hours line and add the rest when you are ready.

After-hours Coverage

Every call to your office answered in your agency's name, in office hours and after them. Urgent and emergency calls reach a person at minute 0; everything else is in your morning summary. Your on-call nurse hears only the calls that need them.

€2 per active patient per month; up to 50 patients for €99 a month

Read more about After-hours Coverage

Welcome Calls

Get the client, the family and your care team ready for a good first visit: start date, first carer and access notes confirmed before anyone knocks on the door.

Included in the During care package, €2 per active patient per month for all three, with 3 completed calls per patient included

Read more about Welcome Calls

Patient Satisfaction

Regular check-ins with everyone on your books, never more than twice a week, in the language of the HIQA National Standards for Home Support. You hear about unhappiness while there is still time to put it right.

Included in the During care package

Read more about Patient Satisfaction

Visit Coordination

Hettie confirms tomorrow's visits and passes timing on in both directions, so clients are not left wondering when their carer will arrive, whether the round stays in town or runs out towards Letterkenny.

Included in the During care package

Read more about Visit Coordination

Post-Discharge Follow-up

For weeks after a package ends or a hospital stay, Hettie keeps in touch and hears when things start to slip. For clients coming home from Letterkenny University Hospital, that is the call that catches a problem in the first days.

€3 per active patient per month, 8 completed calls per patient included

Read more about Post-Discharge Follow-up

No setup fee, no contract, and a €99 Starter for agencies with up to 50 active patients. Full terms on the pricing page. Hospices have their own page: Hettie for hospices.

Local numbers

The numbers behind County Donegal.

County 65+
29,623

people aged 65 and over in County Donegal at Census 2022, up 18.5% on 2016

Providers
6

home care provider offices in County Donegal on Hettie's October 2026 list, from 6 names

Nationally
60,463

people receiving HSE home support at the end of 2025

Also nationally: 5,286 people assessed for home support and waiting for a carer in May 2026, and 22% growth in people aged 65 and over between 2016 and 2022. Sources: HSE reply to PQ 5691/26, 6 Feb 2026; HSE reply to PQ 54735/26, 24 Jul 2026; CSO Census 2022, Population Changes; county figure calculated from CSO Census 2022, table FY006B; provider count from HSE: choosing an approved provider; HCCI Find Care Near Me.

Nearby

Nearby towns and the rest of the county.

Agencies rarely stop at the town boundary. These pages cover the nearest settlements, with the local figures for each.

Across County Donegal: Letterkenny and Ballybofey-Stranorlar. See the County Donegal page for the county figures, the HSE offices and the providers.

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Frequently Asked Questions.

Want to see if Hettie fits the way you work?

A short chat about how your service runs, and a walk through what Hettie would have picked up from your clients last week.

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For home care providers and hospices in Ireland. Early access is open.