Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The opening of the Children's Health Ireland, CHI, urgent care centre at Connolly Hospital was hailed as a major milestone in the new children's hospital project. The walk-in service providing urgent care for children with minor injuries and illnesses was a critical component of the new service, not just in providing immediate care but in taking the strain off CHI at Temple Street and CHI at Crumlin and the new children's hospital, when it finally opens. As the Taoiseach knows, CHI has inexplicably and suddenly withdrawn the walk-in service. Parents now have to log on to a website and triage their children online, after which they might get appointments at Connolly Hospital or they could be directed to CHI at Temple Street. This approach completely defeats the core purpose of the CHI service. I know that parents have been in contact with the Taoiseach about this because they are worried that they will not be able to get GP visits if their children are sick or injured and they are unlikely to go onto a website to get medical attention, which will put the ambulance service under further strain. Moving healthcare online also excludes sections of our population from accessing it, and we noticed this during Covid. Accenture's most recent digital index report found that computer use was split according to socioeconomic status, with only 39% of those in the lower socioeconomic groups using computers daily. Was the Minister for Health informed of this closure of services and will action be taken to reinstate the walk-in services in CHI at Connolly?

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