Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Good morning. I want to start by laying out the background to the issue relating to SouthDoc in Blackpool. As my constituency colleague, the Minister of State must be well aware of this matter. In 2020, the close of SouthDoc in Blackpool was announced on foot of the Covid-19 crisis. At the time, I raised concerns. Those concerns proved to be well founded when SouthDoc clearly stated that it was not going to reopen its service in Blackpool. This meant that constituents of mine in the north side of the city had to travel over to Kinsale Road in order to be seen by a GP.

I raised this matter in the Chamber at the time with the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Health and with everyone else in order to outline how important SouthDoc in Blackpool was for my constituency. The HSE expressed serious concerns about the clinical consequences of this decision. The basis for those concerns was that people who should have been attending the SouthDoc treatment centre in Blackpool would have to be driven to the Mercy University Hospital and to Cork University Hospital, CUH, accident and emergency departments which are already severely overcrowded. People on the north side of Cork were so sick and tired of being neglected, they launched a Trojan campaign which led to SouthDoc in Blackpool reopened.

Last year, SouthDoc essentially closed its facility in Blackpool for a second time. It reduced the number of doctors to one, and it is now saying that the doctor who is on call is based in Blackpool. This means that most of the time, people cannot get GP appointments in at the SouthDoc facility in Blackpool. It is not just me saying this. Figures I obtained from the Minister for Health indicate that there was a 70% reduction in the number of people being seen by SouthDoc in Blackpool in January of this year in comparison with previous years. The HSE is telling me that its facilities are closed, but the figures speak for themselves.

Last night, I put a post on Facebook letting my constituents know that I would be speaking here this morning and raising their concerns and asking them to outline their experiences. I invite the Minister of State to go onto my Facebook page and look at the comments they have put in. They indicate how they have been obliged to travel from the north side over to the south side with sick children and sick family members.

I will explain how important SouthDoc in Blackpool is. One lady told me how last August when the service was still open, she brought her child there. The child was sent straight to the accident and emergency department to have its appendix removed because it was such an emergency. If the service in Blackpool had not been open at the time, the woman would have been obliged to travel across the city with her child. There would have been a delay in treatment as a result. Not only that, because the service in Blackpool is not operational, people are waiting hours not to get appointments but to be called back. The issue here is about clinical need.

Another gentleman contacted me to say that his wife is ill and that he had to take his daughter to SouthDoc. They live in Blarney. The Minister of State knows the area well. The man in question had to travel from Blarney to the Kinsale Road with his sick daughter and his sick wife. That is what happens when SouthDoc in Blackpool is closed. The gentleman has no car. The Government is encouraging people to use public transport, but there is no public transport to the Kinsale Road. It costs up to €80 to get a taxi there and back. The man to whom I refer explained the situation to me.

The people of the north side of Cork city want a guarantee that SouthDoc will be kept open and that there will be no more closures.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leis an Aire Stáit, an Teachta Burke, ina ról nua.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

I thank Deputy Gould for raising this issue and for his consistent engagement in respect of the SouthDoc treatment centre. I am dealing with this matter on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Donnelly.

The Minister fully understands that the Deputy is acting out of a genuine concern, his own and that of his constituents, regarding the ongoing provision of out-of-hours GP services in the north side of Cork city. The Minister for Health has regularly engaged through the HSE with SouthDoc with regard to the Blackpool treatment centre as a result of the Deputy's ongoing expressions of concern in this House. I must emphasise that the Minister has regularly received assurances from SouthDoc that there is no intention to close any of its treatment centres.

The Minister also wishes to add that he fully supports this position and has made clear that he is to be advised in advance of any change in this position. SouthDoc has emphasised in its communication with the HSE that any person in Cork city who requires out-of-hours GP care will be provided with that care either at one of its treatment centres or, where the clinical condition of the patients so requires, in the patient's own home. SouthDoc GP appointments are provided on the basis of appointments which are available following contact with SouthDoc call centre and triage services. This is the case for all patients, including those wishing to attend the Blackpool treatment centre.

I am aware of the recent experience of a member of the Deputy's family about which he has spoken in the House previously. On that occasion, incorrect information was provided that the Blackpool treatment centre was closed. Doctors are rostered to provide services in the Blackpool treatment centre. As a result of the Deputy raising those events, the HSE made contact with SouthDoc, which has subsequently taken remedial and retraining steps to ensure that all staff are fully aware of the service delivery throughout the co-op.

The Minister for Health values the Deputy's ongoing engagement on this matter and wishes to provide assurances that there are no plans to close SouthDoc's Blackpool treatment centre.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I do not want to be disrespectful, but if the Minister for Health does not understand what is happening in the HSE in the context of SouthDoc in Blackpool, that is shocking.

Some €7 million was paid to SouthDoc to provide an out-of-hours service, which it is not doing. If the Minister of State looks at my Facebook page, he will see the number of constituents by whom I have contacted who cannot get appointments there. The only time someone can get in there is if the doctor is not on call. This means that at least 70% or 80% of the time, there is no doctor in Blackpool. I spoke to a person yesterday who contacted the Blackpool treatment centre at the weekend and was told that the doctor was making a house visit in Macroom. I have no problem if doctors need to go out to visit people in their homes. That service needs to be there, but what happened at the weekend meant that there was no doctor in Blackpool for the over 100,000 people who live on the north side of Cork city. People have informed me that they have to wait for hours.

I have seen the service level agreement agreed in 2020 by SouthDoc and the HSE. SouthDoc is not living up to its side of that agreement.

Last month, I asked the Tánaiste, Deputy Micheál Martin, a fellow Corkman, about this matter. He told me that he would contact the GP services and the HSE.

Does the Minister of State have any response from the Tánaiste regarding what he was told because Southdoc in Blackpool was not operational at the weekend?

I just want to let the Minister of State know that two more people contacted me to say the same happened to them in recent days. I have a story for him. A lady took her son, who had food poisoning, to SouthDoc on the Kinsale Road. The child was sick all the way out in the car and all the way back while SouthDoc in Blackpool across the road from her house was empty and closed. How can that be fair?

The Minister of State is a constituency colleague of mine. The north side is fed up of not getting a fair shake.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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It is important to remind the Deputy that we also have the minor injuries unit on the north side.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is not open out of hours.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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No. The minor injuries unit covers people from both the north side and the south side. I just want to be clear that not everything is on the south side. Second, I have checked for myself and SouthDoc saw more than 220,000 people last year.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Only in Blackpool.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Gould raised the issue of SouthDoc not doing its job. SouthDoc saw 220,000 patients last year. It has 19 vehicles available to call out to people as well, so there is a whole rota of people available to call out to patients. If a patient is deemed to be so unwell that he or she cannot travel to a centre then SouthDoc will arrange a visit. Patients are seen, on average, within four hours from the time a call is made. That is the service SouthDoc provides. One in eight of the people who go to SouthDoc is referred for further care, either to the accident and emergency unit or to one of the hospitals in Cork or Kerry, whichever the case may be. It is important to emphasise that.

I thank Deputy Gould for raising this issue. It is important that people do have access to services in a timely manner. SouthDoc is committed to the long-term continuation of its out-of-hours services in Cork city. I reiterate that there are no plans to close the Blackpool treatment centre. The Minister for Health has made it clear that he is to be informed if there is any change in that position. He has engaged regularly, through the HSE, with SouthDoc as a result of Deputy Gould's engagement in this House and he will continue to do so, as necessary. The Minister is aware that the Deputy has also had direct contact with the HSE regarding this matter. The Minister and the Government remain committed to ensuring access to of-out-hours GP services on an equitable basis. Therefore that is the-----

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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On the north side.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I am sorry but we are way over time.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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-----response. I fully understand where Deputy Gould is coming from. The concerns he outlined have been raised with me as well. We need to make sure that the service continues, as I am sure it will.