Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House. I raise the issue of public health nursing services in Curlew Road Health Centre in Drimnagh, which are about to be moved to Armagh Road Health Centre in Crumlin. Questions have already been asked about this withdrawal and the response has been that it is a temporary measure, and that there will be a mother and child clinic. However, I need to impress upon the decision makers that it is not acceptable for the area of Drimnagh to be left without a public health nurse service. I need to contextualise this. Somewhere in the heads of those who make decisions, Drimnagh and Crumlin are lumped together and taken en masse. Drimnagh is an area with a population the size of Cobh. It currently has building work and planning permissions going on that mean it will soon, by itself, have a population the size of Newbridge. The people of Drimnagh have been promised a primary care centre since 2011, when 20 announcements were made. Of those primary care centres, 19 have been built. The Drimnagh one currently has a promise for turning the sod of December 2024, or some time in the last quarter of next year. In the meantime, elderly people in Drimnagh are expected to travel to Crumlin, which has no direct connecting bus service unless they take a very long walk. This is simply not good enough. Drimnagh has only two GPs. The area has been stripped of its physiotherapy and social care provision. All of those services have already gone to the Armagh Road centre. It is not acceptable that health services for the people of Drimnagh have been completely stripped away. There has been no consultation with residents or with the Alzheimer's day care unit that is based in the Mother McAuley Centre on Curlew Road. The HSE owns a vast amount of land on Davitt Road that is just sitting there idle, with nothing happening on it. There is no consultation, no plan and no engagement with residents. There is a fantastic group, Dynamic Drimnagh, that is ready to engage and has come up with well thought-through plans and proposals that would serve the people of the area. However, all that happens in Drimnagh is that one planning permission after another is given, most of them for build-to-rent accommodation. This results in a transitory population, with no infrastructure or supports in place.

Now we have this additional insult, whereby the 12,500 people in Drimnagh apparently do not deserve the provision of a public health nurse. It is somehow acceptable that they are left without that service. It is not acceptable and the people of Drimnagh will be very active in expressing their view on that. The reason given for the withdrawal of the service is that there is a shortage of staff in the Armagh Road centre. I would like to know why there is a shortage of staff. We discussed this issue during a Commencement debate last week. Right next door to the Armagh Road facility is a special needs school that has been promised a service two hours a week for its 43 pupils. That service cannot be delivered because the turnover of staff in the Armagh Road facility is incredibly high. There is something going on there and the people of Drimnagh are expected to pay the price for it, in addition to the stripping out of services in Crumlin. The people of Drimnagh deserve their own family care centre and for this decision on the public health nurse service to be reversed as a matter of urgency.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, I thank the Senator for raising this matter and for the opportunity to update the House. Public health nurses play an extremely valuable role within the community healthcare system. It is vital that local communities, such as the community in Drimnagh, have access to public health nurses and the extensive range of services they provide.

The public health nursing service in Dublin south-west is currently dealing with significant staff shortages. These shortages are mainly due to reductions in the availability of staff as a result of retirement, internal movement and staff leave. Despite ongoing efforts, including recruitment campaigns and attendance at both national and international recruitment fairs, the recruitment of public health nurses continues to prove particularly challenging for the Dublin south-west area. The HSE has assured the Minister that it will continue to make every effort to provide the required nursing services to the population despite these recruitment difficulties.

In light of the staffing shortages, the public health nursing service in Dublin south-west has taken the decision to pool resources as a short-term mitigation measure. This will ensure that any impact on service provision is kept to a minimum. The public health nursing services will be consolidated in the Armagh Road centre, with a satellite clinic to be provided in the Curlew Road facility. It is hoped that the provision of this satellite clinic will ensure minimal impact on service users. It is important to note that this change will see no impact on those receiving domiciliary nursing services.

The HSE expects implementation of this process to begin in the week of 3 April, with a communication letter to be issued to service users and relevant stakeholders in advance of that date. The HSE has advised that this measure will be subject to daily monitoring to ensure continuity of care and to manage risk. The HSE has reiterated that, as and when staffing levels increase, nursing staff will return to Curlew Road. The Minister has been informed that occupational therapy services, dietetics and addiction services will all continue to be provided from the Curlew Road Health Centre.In response to the broader challenges of recruitment and retention of public health nurses, the HSE established a community nursing national oversight group last year. The group is tasked with developing proposals and recommendations which will aim to address issues in the recruitment and retention of public health and community-registered nurses. The Department recognises the stress and frustration caused by the shortages of public health nurses. The Department and HSE encourage service users with concerns to contact their local public health nursing service directly.

Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State would not defend the stripping out of public health nurses from the service to a town the size of Killarney. That decision would never be made because it is seen as a distinct area and town deserving of and entitled to its own service. Drimnagh is no different. Just because it is in Dublin city does not mean it does not deserve to be red-circled and have its own services. The people of Drimnagh have been let down since 2011 and have not had a delivery of the services or a prioritisation. They got a wishy-washy promise of a primary care centre but did not get actual plans or decisions. Now we are stripping out their public health nurses as well. All that is happening is that what they had is being diminished and diluted all the time. It is not good enough and needs to change. The people in Drimnagh deserve to be prioritised as a matter of urgency. This decision needs to be addressed. How many other centres were considered to have public health nurses drawn from them to preserve the public health nurse service in the Curlew Road centre? Nowhere else, because they are handy people to pull over to the Long Mile Road and maybe the people of Drimnagh will not have anything to say. However, the people of Drimnagh will have a lot to say about this. It is not acceptable and the decision needs to be reversed.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister, Deputy Stephen Donnelly, fully acknowledges the Senator’s concerns and those of the community in Drimnagh regarding the relocation from the Curlew Road Health Centre to the Armagh Road primary care centre. However, it is important to note this is a short-term measure to pool resources while recruitment challenges exist. The introduction of the measure will allow the service to provide better continuity of care while ensuring those with the greatest clinical need continue to be seen in the community. The Department has received an assurance that the measure will be under daily review to ensure delivery of a safe service. The population of Drimnagh will continue to be served, with the Curlew Road centre acting as a satellite clinic. Once staffing levels increase, nursing staff will return to Curlew Road Health Centre.

While every effort is being made to address recruitment challenges in the short term, including ongoing campaigns, longer term recruitment challenges face a range of sectors, including health. It is expected that the recently established community nursing national oversight group will propose recommendations later this year to address some longer term issues in the recruitment and retention of public health and community-registered nurses. The Minister wishes to reassure the Senator that the Department of Health and HSE will continue to work together to review and monitor the service levels and to utilise all practical options to fill vacancies in Dublin South-West and elsewhere.