Cllr Nolan calls for three new health services: 'Give Longford its share of the national pie'

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill visited St Joseph’s Care Centre in Longford town on Tuesday, July 21, last. 

While on site, Minister MacNeill met with Cllr Peggy Nolan who is calling for a new renal unit to be established at St Josephs.

She is also proposing a consultant-led minor injuries unit, as well as a specialist foetal echocardiography service. The echo service would allow pregnant women to access specialised scans locally rather than having to travel to Mullingar where there is already a waiting list.

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Speaking about the renal services, Cllr Nolan said there is a clear existing demand for the service in Longford.

With more than 300 people travelling to and from Tullamore for specialist renal care, around 20 making the journey there for dialysis treatment, and many more self-administering dialysis at home due to the lack of local clinical services, Cllr Nolan said a unit in St Joseph’s Care Centre would be the most cost effective solution. With no new build required, Cllr Nolan is adamant a unit could be developed there at speed.

Speaking to the Longford Leader, Cllr Nolan said, “The minister came to St Joseph’s, she saw the possibilities and she went away with a want-list that would serve the people of Longford. It was a great engagement.”

“We have to apply for funding and submit plans but the minister now knows the value of the site, which should make it easier for applications from people like me looking for facilities on the site. The building is there, the admin staff is there, all that's needed for the renal services is the equipment and a couple of nurses to administer the dialysis.”

“It's something that can be delivered with speed and it's something that is imminent as far as I'm concerned."

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Cllr Nolan added, "When you look around that site, there’s a lot of buildings there that if a workable plan could draw all those buildings together for a patient-friendly care centre, so much more could be delivered. That was something that I had great pleasure in pointing out to the minister. She was very, very receptive. Most services need sites to be found or buildings to be provided, but that's already on site at St Joseph's.”

Cllr Nolan pointed out that, given the lack of a direct transport link to Tullamore, it made sense for Longford to have its own services, even if only to reduce the time, inconvenience and stress involved for patients travelling for appointments.

“When you consider that our cancer, renal and orthopaedic services are in Tullamore, where there’s no direct road or rail links from Longford to that facility, it makes sense to put as much as possible under governance from the consultants that are on site in Longford.”

“If you look at the catchment area that the St Joseph site could cover, we could take people in from all over the place. I'm just delighted that the minister now has it on her radar.”

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Cllr Nolan’s next step towards achieving the unit is to supply the minister with stats she requested. She explains, "The minister asked for a number of stats to be sent forward to her so I'm looking for those along with my colleague on the HSE Executive, Paul Ross. They will need to analyse the figures and the minister can see what the likelihood is of delivering that renal service. I explained to her the urgency with which this decision needs to be taken.”

With no stone left unturned in her conversation with the health minister, Cllr Nolan also discussed with her a third service which she is determined to secure for Longford. A consultant-led minor injury unit.

“The consultant doesn't even have to be on site,” Cllr Nolan explained, “The consultant and the governance can be off-site. The technology is there and that's what we need in Longford.”

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She added, “It would make us much stronger as a county to attract industry. Because if you don't have a unit where injuries can be treated, then why would you locate to Longford when you have hospitals in Tullamore and Mullingar and major, major new services on stream with more coming in Athlone? That's a circle around us. Why leave us in an oasis where we're not getting services? If you can have a service in Athlone, Mullingar and Tullamore, put it in Longford as well! As far as I'm concerned, give Longford its share of the national pie, and in this case it’s the health pie I want us to have a slice of.”

Cllr Nolan concluded, “As far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to stop until we have a renal service, an echo service and a consultants-led minor injury unit for Longford.”

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme