Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue, and I am happy to advise him that the new primary care centre in Gurranabraher, which is located on the grounds of St. Mary's health campus, was handed over to the HSE during Easter weekend this year. The HSE is currently preparing the facility to receive patients and is overseeing the fit-out of the equipment and systems such as information and communication technologies necessary to support the delivery of clinical services. I am sure the Senator will appreciate that this is a sizeable task given that this landmark centre is one of the largest in the country at more than 6,200 sq. m. That equates to approximately two thirds the size of Cork University Maternity Hospital and, therefore, it is inevitable that the equipping of such a significant building will take some time. Once the fit-out is complete, the Cork Kerry Community Healthcare Organisation will arrange for services to relocate on a phased basis. I understand that the expectation is that this will occur towards the end of the summer.

The centre will allow for the transfer of HSE services and staff spread across different locations into one state-of-the-art building that is designed to meet the needs of a modern health service. The centre will provide accommodation for four GP practices and five primary care teams to work together to meet the health needs of up to 40,000 people in the locality. It will be home to services such as public health and community nursing, home support, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy, including paediatric therapies. Other services will include ophthalmology, a warfarin clinic, an antenatal clinic and dietician serves. One particularly noteworthy aspect of this project is that it will provide accommodation for University College Cork, UCC, dental school to deliver planned undergraduate clinical training and dental services. This is an interesting development as it represents the first time that UCC will have a presence on the northside of Cork city.

This centre will, when fully operational, significantly enhance and expand healthcare provision for local residents, and it serves as an excellent example of the Government’s ongoing commitment to developing primary care services. There are 114 primary care centres in operation throughout the country and the Government has set aside resources for the further development of such centres and other community-based facilities under the national development plan. The case for the development of a more integrated, proactive and community-based care model is broadly accepted and forms a key part of the Slåintecare reform process. Primary care centres can facilitate such a model by offering a range of multi-disciplinary services that can provide "better care, closer to home" and, therefore, play a role in reducing the demand for hospital care.

The opening of the new centre in Gurranabraher will make the theory of primary care a reality for local people who will benefit from being able to access the vast majority of the healthcare services they need in one building in their community.