Article Update: 4th March 2024:
A spokesperson for the HSE said: “The HSE would like to advise that there are no plans to move the Public Health Nurse from Fahan Health Centre and that Public Health Nurse Services continue to be provided in the Fahan Health Centre.
“There are no plans at present to close any other Health Centres.”
Locals in Inishowen have expressed shock as plans to relocate the nurse from the Fahan Health Centre have been revealed.
The nurse at the health centre serves a number of communities in Inishowen, including Fahan as well as residents in the Burnfoot and Inch Island areas.
Inishowen Councillor Jack Murray has expressed his concern after a number of residents contacted him, when they were notified of the plans.
Cllr Murray says that relocating the nurse from the Fahan Health Centre would “effectively close the centre from public use,” and would especially impact “many older people who simply cannot travel to Buncrana” in the area.
He has also raised concerns on the impact this could have on a nearby care home: “…local home care staff regularly avail of this service to quickly obtain medical supplies for those in the vicinity. Forcing them to travel to Buncrana would stretch their time further, and would scale back the provision of care in the area.”
Cllr Murray says he has written to HSE management to ask them to reverse the decision, and that his Sinn Fein party-mate Deputy Pádraig MacLochlainn will raise the matter in the Dail with the Health Minister.
