Donegal County Council is set to write to the HSE pleading that no more Primary Care Centres be closed in rural Donegal.
This follows the recent closure of the Kilmacrennan Primary Care Centre and the loss of GP services in Churchill in 2021.
Cllr Michael McBride brought patients’ concerns before the Letterkenny-Milford MD today. He slammed the lack of consultation on the closures, calling it “totally unacceptable.”
Patients of the Kilmacrennan Primary Care Centre received a letter informing them that appointments would now be in Milford. They were offered a bus service which would collect them at 9am and return back from 1pm.
Cllr McBride said that putting people of poor health on a near five-hour round trip is “a big ask” and that it “simply does not add up” with the risks of cross-contamination, as well as access issues during times of ice on the roads.
Cllr McBride hit out at the government for removing services “bit by bit”, such as garda stations and local health clinics, at a time when the local authority is trying to regenerate towns and villages.
Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly added that he believed the closure of the Churchill GP clinic was not being acted upon quickly enough.
Cllr Kelly has been seeking the restoration of the GP services in Churchill since the pandemic, when “poor connectivity” was cited as part of the issue.
The HSE has said that the Churchill Health Centre remains open with Public Health Nurse Services.
“I’m not so sure this is a HSE problem, I think the GPs have a lot to answer for here as well, I would go as far as to call on the GPs to reinstate the service in Churchill,” Cllr Kelly said.
The local authority agreed to convey the terms of Cllr McBride’s motion to the HSE and call for primary care centres in Churchill and Kilmacrennan to be reopened with immediate effect and that no other primary care centres are closed in the future.
