Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank her for taking this Adjournment matter regarding the potential provision of primary health care facilities in the east Galway area. Primary health care was born as a concept under the Declaration of Alma-Ata in 1978 but it entered the Irish lexicon only in recent years. It was an important milestone in the promotion of world health as it introduced a new way of delivering essential health services. The type of services provided under this concept are imperative for people in areas such as Athenry, Tuam, Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Gort and Portumna. These facilities would provide a wide range of services essential for the well-being of members of these communities and include the promotion of health, screening, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, as well as personal social services. They are particularly attractive as a concept in that they are fully accessible by way of self-referral and operate as a one-stop shop for health needs.

Although the term "primary health care facilities" is often used in synch with the term "general practice", it is important to point out that the former is much broader than the latter as it involves many health professionals, delivering a wide range of services from such as general practitioners, public health nurses, general nurses, social workers, midwives, community mental health nurses, dieticians, dentists, community welfare officers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, chiropodists, community pharmacists, psychologists and others. As we know, the current health system is not a fully integrated one, as many of the aforementioned professionals are private practitioners or direct employees of the public health system, and they operate with general practitioners, who are independent contractors.

We need a better health service for everybody in the community and for that reason I ask the Minister of State to outline her plans today. Our health strategy should aim to deliver improvements in the personal experience of many thousands of individuals who are availing of health services every day. To that end, it is imperative that the aforementioned services be made available within the community. That is the reason I request the Minister of State to expand the primary care team concept to Loughrea, Ballinasloe, Gort, Tuam, Portumna and Athenry, in the interest of providing accessible community care facilities to the citizens of these areas. If the Minister of State is minded to provide these facilities in these areas, I further ask that she make the necessary arrangements in the capital budget to implement this programme over the coming three years.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. The programme for Government sets out this Government's commitment to ensuring a better and more efficient health system; a single-tier health service that will deliver equal access to health care based on need, not income. In a developed primary care system, up to 95% of people's day-to-day health and social care needs can be met in the primary care setting. The key objective of the primary care strategy is to develop services in the community which will give people direct access to integrated multidisciplinary teams of general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and other health care disciplines. This is central to this Government's objective of delivering a high quality, integrated and cost-effective health system. The HSE has identified that 485 primary care teams will be needed by the end of 2012. Some 403 primary care teams were in operation by the end of April 2012. They were holding clinical team meetings on individual client cases, involving general practitioners and HSE staff. The development of primary care services is an essential component of the health service reform process. A modern and well-equipped primary care infrastructure is central to the efficient functioning of primary care teams. These teams enable multidisciplinary services to be delivered on a single site, provide a single point of access for users and encourage closer co-operation between health providers. The infrastructure that will be developed through a combination of public and private investment will facilitate the delivery of multidisciplinary primary health care. This represents a tangible refocusing of the health service to deliver care in the most appropriate and lowest cost setting. To date, the intention has been that infrastructure can be provided, where appropriate, by the private sector through negotiated lease agreements.

The Exchequer will continue to fund the delivery of primary care centres in deprived urban areas, small rural towns and isolated areas. Where service needs dictate, accommodation will be provided in primary care centres for mental health service delivery. The universal primary care project team was established earlier this year to make progress with the various primary care commitments in the programme for Government. Six work streams have been identified, one of which is addressing infrastructure needs. The HSE submitted its accommodation needs assessment report for primary care teams earlier this year. Delivery of primary care infrastructure must be informed by an analysis of needs, with priority being given to areas of urban and rural deprivation. The HSE is currently prioritising locations for primary care centres on the basis of an analysis of needs. Decisions on a delivery programme will be made when this exercise has been completed. The HSE's national service plan for 2012 states that a primary care centre in Athenry will be delivered late in 2012 using the lease initiative. Construction of the facility has begun. It is estimated that it will be completed late in the third quarter of 2012. The primary care team in Ballinasloe is accommodated in a building that was completed in 2003. Decisions on locations for primary care centres will be made in the context of the prioritisation exercise that is under way. I thank the Senator again for raising this issue.

Lorraine Higgins (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for her succinct response. I am delighted that 485 primary health care teams have been rolled out in recent times or will be rolled out in the near future. It represents a firm commitment on the part of the Government with regard to this country's health service. It is fantastic that deprived urban areas and small rural towns will get the benefit of the Government's plan. I hope all the towns I mentioned in my initial remarks will be considered when decisions are being made on the locations of primary health care facilities. I thank the Minister of State again.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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It is interesting to extract information from the health statistics. The statistics make it clear that the areas of highest deprivation have the lowest availability of any service. That is why the prioritisation exercise is vitally important. We are not just talking about urban areas - we are also talking about areas outside the bigger population bases.