Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 October 2016
554. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Health the extent to which primary care centres are capable of alleviating the burden of overcrowding at the accident and emergency facilities in general hospitals by way of dealing with cases which might not require hospital treatment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30973/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Programme for a Partnership Government commits to a decisive shift towards primary care so that we can provide better care close to home for communities around the country. The Government wants to develop and expand the capacity in primary care in order to encompass health promotion, prevention, early identification, simple and early interventions, and patient empowerment, rather than mainly dealing with acute episodes as they occur. The expansion of the range of services and capacity available within primary and community care can help to keep people well and minimise, as far as possible, the number of patients admitted to hospitals in the first place.
The development of Primary Care Centres to accommodate Primary Care Teams and, where possible, GPs in the one location is a key enabler for the delivery of primary care services. Primary Care Centres facilitate the shift from acute care towards primary care because of the range of multi-disciplinary services they can provide and the role they can play in keeping people who don't need to be in an acute setting out of hospital.
There is a range of initiatives and services provided in a primary care setting and which I hope to see further developed, which are intended to prevent unnecessary hospital admission or attendance and to facilitate early discharge of patients. These initiatives include the implementation of Community Intervention Teams (CITs), Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy (OPAT), Ultrasound Diagnostics and the GP Minor Surgery Pilot Initiative.
The 2016/2017 Winter Initiative provides for the expansion of Community Intervention Team services in four areas (Dublin North, Louth/Meath, Galway/Roscommon and South Tipperary) with potential to support more than 7,500 additional patients through the winter and during 2017.
