Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In 2003 the 24-hour, consultant-led accident and emergency unit at Ennis General Hospital was reconfigured to a doctor-led day facility for people with minor injuries.Part of that reconfiguration was the upgrade of the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Dooradoyle in County Limerick to which people from Clare, Limerick and Tipperary could go for accident and emergency services. Unfortunately, the facility in the hospital is not yet built. While it is due in 2017, it still at construction phase. What happened in respect of reconfiguration in the middle of the last decade involved putting the cart before the horse. It was announced in Clare this morning that Shannondoc, which is the out-of-hours GP service, is being dramatically scaled back. The out-of-hours service in Ennistymon and Kilrush will be amalgamated into one facility in Milltown Malbay. While services will continue in Ennistymon and Kilrush at weekends, this is certainly a significant blow in terms of providing doctor cover at weekends.

I call on the Minister for Health to make a statement setting out his views regarding the reduction in Shannondoc services. What does he propose to do about it? I also call on him to carry out a review of the service provided by Shannondoc in Clare over the past number of years. It is my contention that it provides a very important service and its presence in County Clare is extremely important. If people from Loop Head find themselves in difficulty, are they now expected to go to Milltown Malbay to see a doctor when until now, they could have gone to Kilrush? It is not appropriate or acceptable and the Minister needs to intervene. My understanding is that there is an issue with retaining doctors, particularly to do the red-eye shifts. I want the Minister to give his views on this and to review it urgently.