Cathal Crowe
Ceist:87. Deputy Cathal Crowe asked the Minister for Health the status of the provision of new primary care centres in County Clare; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33468/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 3 November 2020
Ceisteanna (87)
Freagraí ó Béal (7 píosaí cainte)
I ask for an update on the status of planned primary care centres in County Clare.
I thank the Deputy for his brevity.
I acknowledge the Deputy's strong advocacy work for the local healthcare facilities in his constituency and for the people he represents. I am pleased to be able to inform the Deputy that the development of five new primary care centres in County Clare is being progressed and, when completed, will add to the existing centre at Westbury. I acknowledge the Deputy's work in continuing to advocate to ensure these critical projects happen as quickly as possible.
The development at Station Road, Ennis is expected to be completed late in 2021 and to be operational in early 2022, while a planning application has been submitted to An Bord Pleanála for another centre in Ennis on the Tulla Road.
Planning permission has now been granted following an appeal for the centre at Sixmilebridge, and the developer is currently working to conclude outstanding matters. It is hoped to commence construction works in the coming months.
Priced offers from potential developers are currently under review for Ennistymon, while several potential sites have been shortlisted in the Kilrush area and a review of accommodation requirements for that area is being undertaken.
Unfortunately, it is not possible at this stage to provide an estimated operational date for these centres, other than for Station Road. I am determined that these projects progress as quickly as possible as part of our efforts to enhance primary care capacity. I look forward to working with the Deputy on these issues.
A total of 135 primary care centres are now operational across the country, and these modern, well-equipped and accessible premises are key to the development of primary care services in line with the vision of Sláintecare.
I thank the Minister. I am glad to hear of the progress with the five new centres which are greatly needed in our county. When the primary care centre model was developed by the Department of Health it was to provide modern purpose-designed buildings for a wide catchment area with care by a multidisciplinary primary care team. I live quite close to the Westbury primary care centre. I have brought my children there for developmental check-ups. It is fantastic to have a state-of-the-art facility on my doorstep. The other parts of our county also need them, and I am glad to hear they are progressing. Without a 24-hour accident and emergency department, County Clare has a higher dependency on community-level healthcare and also the out-of-hours service provided by Shannondoc. This is good news. I would like to hear a bit more about Kilrush and Ennistymon which are further back in the county and have a more pressing need for primary care centres.
In Kilrush, the HSE is currently awaiting price offers from potential developers. There is not much more to say until those offers come in at which point, they will be evaluated.
In Ennistymon a site was advertised in May 2019 for a primary care centre development and priced offer applications from potential developers are currently under review. I am aware that an agreement for lease was issued for this site before being withdrawn. That the proposed centre has been re-advertised shows that the commitment remains to progress with this project. I am happy to reassure the Deputy of my commitment to work with him on behalf of the people he represents to ensure this critical project gets over the line and opens.
I thank the Minister for those words of encouragement. As with everything, rumours circulate on social media these days, including the rumour over the summer that these projects would not happen and that funding for them was questionable. I am glad to hear tonight in the Dáil that they are progressing. Ennis is the largest town in Munster that is not a city and it needs the two new primary care centres on the Tulla Road and the Station Road. Sixmilebridge was once a small village and is now a large town. As Kilrush and Ennistymon are more peripheral in the county, their need for primary care is more acute.
I ask the Minister to confirm that the money remains allocated to these and has not been pulled as was rumoured. I hope these new primary care centres will have the capacity to fully deal with developmental check-ups for the young, the elderly and also mental health. As I have often discussed with the Minister, there is considerable focus on physical health because of Covid, but mental health is also suffering. Primary care needs to have the capacity to cater for that also.
I confirm that these projects are going ahead. Rumours that they have been pulled or shelved are unsubstantiated. The services to go in is a matter that will be discussed with the HSE. Any input the Deputy may have would be very welcome. We try to have GPs in the primary care centres. Obviously, GPs are independent contractors and do not have to come in. There are generally ongoing negotiations to get local GPs to move in and then we put in primary healthcare teams as well. The exact configuration of what is needed in the community is different for urban versus rural, for younger versus older populations and so forth, as the Deputy said. I would welcome any feedback the Deputy has on what would be suitable for community-based services.