AFTER-HOURS GP PLAN AXED
Funding is NOT granted for out-of-hours service in Loughlinstown
FUNDING HAS not been granted for an out-of-hours GP service in north Wicklow – and it will not be granted this year. The HSE Community Health Area 6 confirmed in a statement that it sought funding for the proposed service at a cost of €450,000 per year, and the application was refused. A representative said: ‘ This issue will be pursued again as part of the estimates discussions for 2018.’ The service was supposed to be based at Loughlinstown Hospital.
An out-of-hours GP service promised last year for north Wicklow has failed to materialise.
The North East Wicklow On Call co-op, NEW DOC, was expected to start early this year, based at St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown.
A number of GPs have worked to establish the service in recent years.
‘ The HSE Community Health area 6 requested funding for the proposed GP Out of Hours service in North Wicklow at a cost of €450,000 per annum and included same in the Winter Initiative and Estimates submissions for 2017, however were Unsuccessful in terms of securing funding for either the Winter Initiative or the 2017 Service Plan,’ said the HSE in a statement.
‘ This issue will be pursued again by the CHO 6 as part of the estimates discussions for 2018.’
They said that the HSE National Primary Care Division are currently conducting a review of GP out of hours services countrywide, which will have relevance to the current gaps in service in areas such as Wicklow and is due to conclude in June. ‘CHO 6 remains committed to the development of GP out of hours services in North Wicklow,’ said the HSE in the statement.
Bray-based GP, Dr Ernan Gallagher, told the Irish Medical Times that the deferral was ‘ totally and absolutely unexpected’.
He said that negotiations had reached an advanced stage. He is hopeful that they will be able to provide the service in a short time.
‘ This news has come as a complete surprise to GPs in the area,’ said Deputy John Brady. ‘I am aware that Minister Harris is yet to comment on this matter and I am calling on him to do so. The Minister must make it clear as to when he was informed that funding for the GP out-of-hours co-op for North Wicklow would not be made available.’
‘For the people of north Wicklow, this is simply not good enough.’
Minister for Health Simon Harris announced last October that the service would open in January 2017. He said at the time that the absence of an out of hours service in the north of the county had been an issue of concern for the HSE.
In a recent newsletter, Minister Harris said that plans were ‘at an advanced stage’. and he was ‘determined to get this much needed service up and running for the people of Greystones, Kilcoole and Newcastle.
The HSE found in a study last year that inconsistent coverage by GP out of hours services represents ‘a significant deficit that can lead to inappropriate attendance at emergency departments’. They found that deficits exist in the north east, the west and Dublin north, as well as north Wicklow.
South County Wicklow is served by the Caredoc umbrella, with centres in Wicklow Town and Arklow. Minister Harris had not responded to requests for information at the time of going to press.