I wish to thank you for affording me the opportunity of raising this important issue.
The Victorian conditions in the Swords health centre at present are an utter disgrace. It was built nearly 100 years ago and may have been adequate as a health centre some 40 years ago when Swords had a population of 1,000. However, it is totally deficient at present as Swords now has a population of 20,000 people and the health centre caters for a wider catchment area in excess of 30,000 people.
This narrow, two storey building on the main street is small and obviously overcrowded. The two public toilets are out of doors and do not have any hot water. Imagine a health centre without hot water to wash one's hands. Heating is totally inadequate and is provided by electric heaters which are a hazard because of young children running around.
The health centre offers no privacy whatsoever to mothers with children needing feeding and changing facilities or to patients waiting to see the doctors and other professional people. I have visited the centre on many occasions and witnessed first-hand these appalling conditions. Clinics, such as the one dealing with immunisation of children, are regularly held in the centre and, because of overcrowding, I have witnessed mothers with their children in prams queuing on the stairs, in narrow hallways and often out on the streets. Is this the way to encourage parents to have their children immunised against illnesses we want to eradicate?
I have spoken to some parents who opted to go private notwithstanding the fact that they could ill afford to do so because they did not want to risk their children's health in the cold health centre. A dental service is provided daily in a single room upstairs which is totally inadequate to meet the requirements of the area with a child population of over 4,000. In any other area this figure would warrant three full-time dental surgeons. Is it any wonder that there is such a long list of schoolchildren awaiting dental treatment?
The Minister rightly placed a special emphasis on a community based, adult psychiatric service. In Swords this is provided in the health centre; the lack of facilities puts this whole policy at risk. Two doctors attend the clinic every Friday, one of whom consults in a room which is basically a converted cupboard 3 feet square. Apart from the doctors, five professional people provide a very sensitive service in a room no larger than 10 feet square. In this restricted area injections are given, consultations take place and a pharmacist dispenses drugs. Given the nature of the illnesses and the patients requirements this is important. It is not unusual for patients to be interviewed in waiting rooms, hallways, streets and indeed in nearby cafes.
I have been reliably informed by GPs in the area that, in view of the condition of the health centre, St. It's Hospital, which administers the service, have threatened to withdraw from the health centre. In all probability, it would mean that the service would revert to the hospital about six miles away. I wish to thank and compliment all the health professional people working in the present facility who, under very trying conditions, continue to provide the best service possible.
I understand that the cost of a new centre would be in the region of £600,000. A major portion of this amount could be recouped by the sale of the existing building which is on a prime location in the centre of Swords. I assure the Minister that I am not being alarmist, that is not my style. These are the facts and urgent decisions must be taken this year regarding a capital allocation from the Department towards the provision of a new health centre.
