GP service is behind schedule

The process to set up an out-of-hours GP service for north Wicklow is behind schedule.

A meeting was held in Bray on Monday evening regarding the rollout of the out-of-hours GP service for north Wicklow.

The HSE arranged the meeting with local GPs to establish the best type of model of service to establish.

According to an announcement made in January by Minister Simon Harris, it was expected that the public advertisement for the service would happen in February and that it would be operational by the end of June 2018.

‘Unfortunately it would now appear that there has been a delay to that schedule,’ said Cllr Jennifer Whitmore. ‘ The fact that the process is still in the consultation phase would indicate that there will be a significant delay to the start date of this service.

‘ This is very disappointing for residents of north Wicklow,’ said Cllr Whitmore. ‘We have been waiting for years for this service to be put in place and now it looks like we have another wait ahead before it is operational,’ said Cllr Whitmore.

‘ This is not the first time this important service has been delayed.’

Funding for the service was announced earlier in the year. This followed an announcement in 2016 that the service would be set up, which did not emerge at that time due to the absence of funding.

The service is intended to cover night time hours from Monday to Friday and 24-hour cover at weekends and public holidays. The service will include initial triage and GP consultation at centres or home visits as appropriate, in accordance with HIQA standards for Safer Better Healthcare. It is expected that approximately 9,000 patients per month will avail of the service.

Minister Harris had not responded to a request for information at the time of going to press.