Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I raise two alarming issues in my constituency of Cork East. They concern Cobh Community Hospital and Castlemartyr Health Centre. On 27 August members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation, INMO, contacted me to inform me that the hospital was in dire need of additional funding and that its budget would run out in five weeks. That was six weeks ago today. I have been in contact with the office of the Minister for Health, but the only update I have received since is that the hospital is financially viable. However, there are no guarantees about this. The INMO has contacted me again because it is very worried. We have spoken here many times about primary care services and investing in local services. We are talking about a 44-bed residential unit. If it were to close, it would be devastating for service users, their families and everyone else, including the staff. There are an additional 15 staff employed.

The hospital is community owned by a trust. I have been told that the HSE has been chipping away at it and reducing funding year in, year out and that it is starting to struggle. Only a few weeks ago Liverpool Football Club and Cobh Ramblers played a game in Cobh. All of the moneys raised went to the community hospital. We have often said investing in the community and taking ownership is the best model of care. What is the position at Cobh Community Hospital? If it does close, where will all of the residents go?

We were told some weeks ago that Castlemartyr Health Centre would also close. Youghal is on the edge of the Cork East constituency. The centre covers Youghal, Killeagh, Castlemartyr, Midleton and Carrigtwohill. I was told two weeks ago that it would be relocated to Midleton, which is six miles away. I have now been informed that it will be relocated to Carrigtwohill. A centre that is working well will be closed and everything moved. It will involve a 30 km round trip. Most of the people affected are elderly and disabled and do not drive. I have tabled several parliamentary questions to a number of Departments, including the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport because there is also a problem with public transport services on the Waterford-Cork route. A person would be very lucky to get on the service in Killeagh. Patients who need to attend the health centre in Castlemartyr may not get on the bus in Youghal.

There was a €300,000 fund and planning permission was granted for an extension to the centre and other associated works such as the provision of wheelchair ramps.

Now we have learned that somebody within the HSE has made the decision not to do it. I also asked whether more public health nurses will be assigned to cover the area, which is a large one. In Youghal, one cannot reach a doctor after 6 p.m. If one needsto access SouthDoc, one needs to travel to Fermoy or Midleton, and the primary care centres will soon be closed. All of east Cork, from Youghal to Castlemartyr, will be left with nothing. Why does the HSE not invest in primary care and care for those who need it most?

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