HSE approached DEPT® with a clear goal: to give Irish citizens better digital access to healthcare services.

While they had the vision, they needed help to innovate and bring it to life. We embedded ourselves within their organization, working as one team. This collaboration enabled us to combine strategy, design, technology, and content to create exceptional digital experiences for patients and employees alike.

How could we use design and technology to make life easier for Irish citizens? By prioritizing accessibility and addressing the varying needs of the HSE ecosystem, we helped users find the right content, understand it, and engage confidently with the Irish health service online.

Technology was the cornerstone of future success. However, HSE faced challenges with an outdated CMS, a rigid tech stack, and limited automation, all of which hindered innovation and scalability.

We implemented the following solutions to align their vision with a robust technical foundation:

• New architecture: Improved service reliability (resulting in zero downtime since launch) and reduced response times by more than 50%. The system now autoscalates during periods of high demand and includes regional redundancy for disaster recovery.
• Built-in security: We embedded security protocols from the outset, including penetration testing, reducing risks, and ensuring adherence to high standards. Automated testing allows efficient deployment of developments without additional effort or cost.
• A new CMS: Wagtail, the CMS that powers NHS and Gov.co.uk, was selected for its headless capabilities, security, and flexibility. This approach enabled streamlined content management and the swift deployment of new products.

HSE.ie is the main domain where most users begin their healthcare journey. Our research highlighted key issues:

• Users struggled to find help or engage with the organization
• Content was outdated and failed to meet basic accessibility standards
• Information often did not align with user intent on search engines, leading to confusion about services

To address this, we created tailored experiences across dedicated subdomains:

• hse.ie: Supports users seeking healthcare services
• healthservice.hse.ie: Provides resources for staff to perform their duties
• about.hse.ie: Explains how HSE operates to the general public

By prioritizing accessibility, we transformed the digital experience for millions. The old site’s accessibility score of 65% has now risen to 92%, far exceeding industry benchmarks.

With a new technical foundation and improved accessibility, we turned to HSE’s next major goal: launching new products and services to enhance health outcomes for Irish users.

Thanks to streamlined processes, a headless CMS, and a containerized approach, agile development and deployment became seamless. Within a year, we launched several key products, including:

• Mental Health MindPlan: This tool, developed using Wagtail/Django, React and Salesforce Service Cloud, provides tailored mental health advice. It features a fully accessible user experience, with a 96%+ completion rate since launch.
  
  My Diabetes & My Pregnancy support: To deliver consistent health reminders, we created an automated digital messaging workflow, complete with data management, email design, and a user-friendly interface.

These initiatives now serve thousands of users and continue to drive meaningful health outcomes.