Out-of-hours provider of GP service picked

NORTH DOC Medical Services will provide north Wicklow’s Out of Hours GP service.

Minister Simon Harris announced last week that North Doc has been selected as the successful tenderer to deliver the service.

The contract is for call handling services, nurse triage, GPs and clinical nurses to cover Bray, Greystones and Newtown, as well as other areas in south County Dublin.

Minister said that there is an incredibly dedicated GP community in the district, and they have been looking for a way to provide an efficient and effective out of hours service for the area. I have worked closely with our GPs and the HSE to ensure ring-fenced funding was included in the HSE 2018 Service plan as a priority service.

Minister said that planning is under way to roll out the operation of services, which should be up and running in early 2019.

The service will operate initially out of St Columcille’s Hospital in Loughlinstown, providing 24-hour GP cover on weekends and public holidays, and operating through the night on week days.

‘Wicklow will now have one of the best out-of-hours services in the country,’ said Minister Harris.

Deputy John Brady gave the latest development a cautious welcome, saying that if the service is finally rolled out it will be only due to public pressure and a campaign demanding the service.

‘I’ve no doubt that this pressure has forced the Minister for Health Simon Harris to do a u-turn on this issue and finally put the funding in page and re-engage with GPs to get the service rolled out,’ said Deputy Brady. ‘ This is an essential health care service and it is badly needed in north Wicklow, so I hope this time round it will finally be delivered, even though it’s two years after it was supposed to.’

Minister Harris announced in 2016 that the service would be set up, but it did not emerge at that time due to lack of funding.

It was announced earlier this year that the funding would be included in the 2018 National Service Plan.