Opening of Carrickmacross Primary Care Centre should be only first step for local healthcare – Matt Carthy TD
Local Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy has welcomed the opening of the Carrickmacross Primary Care Centre, with the official opening set to follow in July.
In response to parliamentary question the HSE has confirmed to Deputy Carthy that the 40 HSE staff in place would be providing services from the Primary Care Centre in the areas of: Primary Care; Dental; Mental Health Services; Dietetics; Occupational Therapy; Physiotherapy; Podiatry; Psychology; Social Work and Speech Therapy.
Deputy Carthy said:
“The opening of this Primary Care Centre will be welcomed by the local community in Carrickmacross, who have been long impacted by the hollowing out of services at local hospitals in Monaghan and Dundalk and the GP shortage in the region.
“The services at the Primary Care Centre will only serve to deliver for the people of the area if they are in tandem with well resourced and working services across the health service.
“Various aspects of the health service in our area continually fail to effectively function.
“In particular, the dental scheme for children and audiology services in Monaghan have waiting lists that are far too long. The shortage of GP services is a constant issue brought to my attention.
“Covid can only be blamed for delays for so long – the people of Carrickmacross expect and deserve solutions from government, not excuses.
“Sinn Féin have published detailed proposals as to how we would tackle waiting lists, address staffing issues, and reform the health service to deliver one which is truly free at the point of access, and prompt access at that.
“The opening of this Primary Care Centre is indeed welcome – but only as a first step towards delivering the world leading health care that the people of Monaghan deserve, and that our taxes already justify.”
Response to Parliament Question:
Re: PQ ref 24750/22
To ask the Minister for Health when the primary care centre in Carrickmacross will become operational; the services that will be available in the centre at that date; the services that will become available at a later stage; the number of professionals and grades that will be based in the centre associated with each service; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Dear Deputy Carthy,
The Health Service Executive has been requested to reply directly to you in the context of the above Parliamentary Question, which you submitted to the Chief Officer, CHO 1 for response. I have examined the matter, and the following outlines the position
The Carrickmacross Primary Care Centre is now operational and providing services to the public since mid-April. The official opening is due to take place in early July.
There are approximately 40 HSE staff providing services from the Primary Care Centre including Primary Care; Dental and Mental Health Services.
There are five Public Health Nurses based in Carrickmacross and one Registered General Nurse. In addition there is a Tissue Viability Nurse and a Continence Nurse based in Primary Care Cavan/Monaghan across both Networks who may provide level two specialist nursing interventions to clients in the Carrickmacross area where there is an identified need.
Other services being provided by the local Primary Care Team in the Centre in Carrickmacross include Dietetics; Occupational Therapy; Physiotherapy; Podiatry; Psychology; Social Work and Speech Therapy. In each of various clinical disciplines there is one staff member assigned to Carrickmacross Primary care Team, apart from Physiotherapy which has two staff members. There are also two Administration staff providing support to the Primary Care Team.
Further recruitment is ongoing but all of the HSE staff identified above are in position and currently providing services.
As the roll out of Chronic Disease Management continues, these services will also be delivered in the Primary Care Centres across the county.
Yours sincerely,
A/Head of Service Primary Care
ENDS
