Tag Archives: primary care

CLARE will provide a “blueprint” for the rollout of Lympoedema Specialist Clinics across the country with the first service of its kind in primary care being piloted in Ennis. The Lymphoedema Specialist Clinic in Clare is opening to support and manage people with this progressive, disabling chronic condition. Lymphoedema is a chronic long-term condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissue. This can lead to pain and a loss of mobility. Lymphoedema can severely impact quality of life and lead to complications if not diagnosed early and managed correctly. The new clinic, opening on May 10, will bring together a nurse, physiotherapist and a therapy assistant to offer lymphoedema assessments, treatment and supported self-care. The clinic will also provide treatment for lipoedema which requires similar management to lymphoedema. The service will be accessible for people in the county of Clare, population 118,800, where there is a potential 308 lymphoedema patients. Children and young people with lymphoedema will also be seen …

PROGRESS on the provision of a new primary care centre for Sixmilebridge has been stalled, following a difficulty around the purchase of the site. It is understood that while the original contractor will not be going ahead with the development now, the planning permission at the site remains in place, and there are hopes in some quarters that another contractor can go ahead with the project in the relatively near future. In 2019 Valley Healthcare Fund Infrastructure Investment Fund sought planning permission for a two storey primary health care facility on land between the Shannon Road and Ashview Drive in Sixmilebridge. The way it works is that a private developer builds the facility, which then comes under the auspices of the HSE, who would provide a range of services from there. Clare TD Joe Carey said, “The current hold up in the development of the new primary care centre in Sixmilebridge is disappointing, but I’m working to get the project …

SEVEN TDs are to attend a special meeting with Mid-West GPs in Limerick this evening to discuss the crisis in general practice. The meeting is scheduled for 7.30pm at the Strand Hotel. At a previous meeting in Cork over 250 GPs attended to pass on their message to members of the Oireachtas. Though the meeting is not open to the media, there will be a briefing beforehand on the concerns GPs have about the lack of resources being devoted to primary care and the impact this is having on patients. The meeting will be chaired by Dr Conor McGee, and speakers at the event include Dr Edward Walsh, founding president, Limerick University; along with GPs Mary Gray, Miriam Callanan, Emmet Kerin and Michael Harty.  

SURGERIES will be overwhelmed by patients if the Government pursues its current objectives of introducing free GP visits for all citizens without any increase in resources for general practice. The warning has come from the GP Committee of the IMO in response to claims made by Minister for Primary Care, Alex White. Dr Ray Walley,  chairman of the GP Committee,  said that claims made on Monday by the Minister for Primary Care, Alex White TD, that there was “no evidence” that visit numbers would increase when free GP visits were introduced were “mistaken”.  “The Minister is wrong and his views are not supported by the research.  The Government has consistently used incorrect visitation rates as a starting point when the true figure, backed up by published research in the Irish Medical Journal, is 24 million consultations a year in general practice.  The research further demonstrates that demand for visits to GP services is likely to increase by four million visits a …