Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Health and Children if he will confirm the number of primary care centres and units established under the primary care plan of the Health Service Executive; the recent contact that he has had with the HSE in regard to this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11711/11]

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)
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Question 228: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the steps he has taken since coming into office to progress the implementation of the primary care strategy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12060/11]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 203 and 228 together.

The development of Primary Care Teams and Primary Care Services is a priority under the Programme for Government. The aim is to provide up to 95% of health and social care in local communities and this will be achieved by increasing activity in the primary care setting and the redirecting of services away from acute hospitals to the community.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) has responsibility for the development of Primary Care Centres in line with the Primary Care Strategy. It is the HSE's plan that the majority of Primary Care Centres will be provided by the private sector through leasing agreements.

In this context, the Executive has developed a generic design model for Primary Care Centres, with accommodation for up to three Primary Care Teams per centre. It is the HSE's intention to deliver up to 200 Primary Care Centres using this leasing strategy. The HSE states that, to date, 32 Primary Care Centres are complete and in operation. 16 of these have opened under the leasing arrangement, accommodating 23 Primary Care Teams.

Primary Care Centres in disadvantaged urban and small rural towns / isolated areas will continue to be funded from the Exchequer.

In accordance with the Primary Care Strategy, modern, well-equipped primary care centres will be central to the effective functioning of Primary Care Teams (PCTs). The centres will allow multidisciplinary services, provided by GPs, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and others, to be made available on a single site, providing a single point of access for the user and will encourage closer coordination between providers. The new centres will greatly assist in the provision of modern services, in particular the provision of chronic disease management by multi-disciplinary teams.

The criteria for the location of PCTs include population size; availability of GPs in local areas; existing General Medical Services (GMS) patterns and the location of existing and proposed Primary Care Centres.

There are significant variations across the PCTs in terms of their stage of development and the number of clinical team meetings held, the number of patients discussed and the number of Patient Care Plans agreed. It is a key priority for this Government that all PCTs are fully functional. I have met with the HSE on a number of occasions in recent weeks and have asked HSE officials to make significant progress on this issue over the next 12 months.