I propose to take Questions Nos. 260 and 261 together.
Westdoc is an out-of-hours general practitioner led service which operates on a partnership basis between the participating GPs and the Health Service Executive, western area. The service has been operating since December 2002 and to date it has received over 95,000 patient contacts. Westdoc has 107 general practitioners providing service to public and private patients in counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon.
The service was primarily established to provide a more managed and structured service to patients requiring urgent GP care out of hours. The service operates via a lo-call number with patients receiving advice from specially trained triage nurses and appointments to see a GP in their locality where required or domiciliary visits where deemed appropriate. Calls are prioritised in order of their seriousness with more urgent calls receiving the earliest appointments.
A patient satisfaction survey, independently conducted by NUIG in July 2003, found that "patient satisfaction with the Westdoc service is very high". A further patient satisfaction survey will be conducted in 2005. I am conscious of the challenges of providing this service over a particularly wide, rural area and I hope these challenges will continue to be addressed in order to meet patients' needs.
The Health Service Executive, western area, has purchased a premises at Drum, Knock, County Mayo, that will serve as a central base for out-of-hours GP services in this immediate area and it is planned to provide a range of primary care day services from this facility. Refurbishment work on the premises, an existing building that has been unoccupied for some time, is expected to commence within the next few months. The Health Service Executive does not have a similar health facility in the immediate area and this development will play a central role in meeting the health needs of the local population.