Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for taking my question today. I wish to raise the issue of the difficulty people in Kildysart and adjacent communities in west Clare are experiencing in accessing GP care. For the past several years, the Saffron and Blue clinic has had the medical card contract for the village. Hundreds of people live in it, or thousands when you take in the wider hinterland. The quality of care is fantastic – no one is faulting it – but at a meeting I attended on Monday night it was overwhelmingly clear that people cannot get access to GP care. It is not a Monday-to-Friday service; it is now about six or eight hours per week. I have two asks of the Government. I have also mentioned this matter to the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly. Number one, we need to support rural GPs so they can provide a high level of care directly, and so care can be provided through the Saffron and Blue clinic. Additionally, the Government needs to have oversight such that the HSE medical card contract in the area will be adhered to. I refer to the distance rule and availability. Patients should not be asked to drive 21 km to the village of Clarecastle.

I thank the Minister because we have a hub-and-spoke system of healthcare, but if the spokes are not working and healthcare cannot be got in the community, it means even more congested in the hub that is University Hospital Limerick.

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