Frank Feighan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am asking the Minister for Health to confirm when the day-care centre for older people will open at the Ballinamore community nursing unit and primary care centre and if there are any plans to provide additional beds at the unit. I thank the Minister of State for being here today. I clearly remember five years ago turning the sod on the €6 million primary care centre and the 20-bed community nursing unit in what is a very impressive campus. It was a great privilege for me as a local Deputy back then to turn the sod on the wonderful development. We now have a modern purpose-built primary care centre and an interconnected 20-bed care managed unit.

The role of the primary care centre fits in with the Government's primary care strategy which is to provide a range of key services addressing the needs of local communities all under one roof. Using this approach, the primary point of contact between a person and the health system is through the local primary care team. The community nursing unit works in tandem with the primary care centre, acting as either a step-down facility for patients well enough to be discharged from general hospital but not well enough to go home or those who require additional therapies.

Regarding my first query over the day-care centre, it was clearly stated in the project's brief at the very outset that this campus would have a day-care facility. Unfortunately this is still to happen. I would like to establish when the facility will commence. It is certainly long overdue. Day-care centres provide a range of social and rehabilitative services for older people with disabilities, and are a vital lifeline for many elderly people. Ballinamore deserves one like any other area.The community nursing unit is a long-term care facility designed to meet the needs of dependent older people in south Leitrim and has been operational since May 2016. At present there are 20 residents in the facility. It is an extremely busy unit but, unfortunately, there is a long waiting list to avail of all its services. Given this situation, I want to ask Minister of State whether there are any plans to provide additional beds at the site. There is certainly more space in the site for a further build, which would provide more beds to cater for this demand. I will be interested to hear the views of the Minister of State on this issue.