The HSE Older Persons Care Group Team commissioned the Evidence Based Healthcare Unit in Spring 2010 to provide a summary of evidence to inform planning in relation to resources currently used to provide ‘24/7’ continuing care in ‘public beds’.  The team undertook a search of the literature for relevant ‘systematic reviews’ and reports of ‘randomised controlled trials’.  The findings presented in the literature were collated and provided to the members of a national working group, made up from service leads from across the HSE, to help inform their work.