Carnew primary care centre ready to open
NEW FACILITY WILL OFFER A HEALTH CLINIC AND RELATED SERVICES
WORK has concluded in recent weeks on Carnew’s new primary care centre on the Gorey Road, and it will open as soon as September.
Cllr Pat Doran, who has already had a walk through the new building said it looks ‘wonderful’ inside. ‘It’s a top-class job.’
The two-storey building, which has a total floor area of 1,232 sq.m., was built under a public private partnership arrangement with the HSE. In 2010, Wicklow County Council granted permission to Basil Conroy for the primary care facility which would include a health centre or clinic, health related retail units, staff offices, and meeting rooms.
Cllr Doran revealed that he expects an application will soon be made for an 89-bed nursing home on lands behind the centre, but the land will have to be rezoned first. He believes that between the two developments, the potential is there for them to provide up to 150 jobs for Carnew and the local area.
‘ The primary care centre will make an awful difference to Carnew,’ he said. ‘People had to go to Loughlinstown or Wexford for small things, and now they will be able to stay in Carnew.’
Work has also been completed on a new footpath linking the new primary care centre and the town.
The HSE this week confirmed that the centre is due to open in September. ‘ This purpose built centre will be a key location for the provision of quality services, delivered in line with HIQA standards, to the community in Carnew and the greater South Wicklow area,’ said a spokesperson. ‘ The services provided will include: general practice, nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, primary care psychology, ophthalmology, and community mental health.’
‘ The Mental Health Services Resource Officer for Suicide Prevention will deliver initiatives locally under the Suicide Prevention Five-Year Action Plan, as outlined in Connecting for Life, Ireland’s National Strategy to reduce Suicide 2015 – 2020,’ she added.
The spokesperson added that under the programme for Progressing Disability Services for Children and Young People, the Carnew centre will also accommodate the Disability Network Team for the South Wicklow area, when this team is formed in the coming months.
The National Ambulance Service will also have a base at the centre. In the near future, dental services will also operate from the centre.
‘ This new facility will allow us to accommodate group work and support programmes such as parenting programmes and breastfeeding groups, etc.,’ said the spokesperson. ‘
As the national body responsible for health promotion, health protection, and prevention of illnesses and disease, the HSE aims to keep patients well and work towards the prevention and management of illness.’
‘Our dietetic team already has plans to deliver XPERT, the quality assured diabetes self-management programme, from the centre this Autumn,’ she continued. ‘We look forward to accommodating many such initiatives and developing further services in collaboration with the community of the greater south Wicklow Area at Carnew Primary Care Centre in the future.’