The HSE is progressing with plans to move the NoWDOC surgery from Oldtown Letterkenny to the Errigal Chronic Disease Management (CDM) Hub in Letterkenny.
The proposed move comes after the HSE was asked to quit the service’s current building over fire safety issues.
The landlord’s solicitor contacted the HSE in December 2022. The service is not facing imminent eviction, Dermot Monaghan, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare Organisation, told today’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum West.
Work is underway to move the out-of-hours clinic to a hub on the Kilmacrennan Road, near the LUH campus.
“This location is preferable given the proximity to LUH and has the further advantage of optimising utilisation of available space making this a 24hour building for clinical care,” Mr Monaghan said.
In response to a question from Forum Chair Cllr Gerry McMonagle, Mr Monaghan said: “Planning is ongoing to progress this move and will include engagement with relevant stakeholders. ”
The HSE is also working to find an alternative administrative hub for a number of HSE Services which will include the Nursing Triage and Administrative Sections of the NoWDOC Service.
The HSE again reaffirmed their commitment to GP out of hours services in Donegal and South Leitrim, as a review takes place into NoWDOC & Caredoc, which organises the GPs for the service.
Mr Monaghan told Cllr Albert Doherty: “We remain fully committed to supporting our staff who are working in our NoWDOC service, and we will continue to ensure that we maintain excellent working relationships with all our partners and are very focused on working with staff and their representative bodies to explore all options available for the potential redesign of the operating model for the GP Out of Hours service in Donegal and South Leitrim to meet any challenges which are being identified.”
Cllr Doherty added that he hoped the HSE would look favourably on retaining sub station service delivery bases in areas such as Carndonagh in Inishowen.
