Cllr Kieran Bourke told the October meeting of the local authority that Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath received a response from the HSE on October 9 to a parliamentary question. Cllr Bourke confirmed that the diabetic services have been removed from Carrick \u201cfull stop\u201d.<\/p>\n
The HSE had released a statement seven days previously, saying the removal was on a temporary basis as a review of all \u201cmedical accommodation and clinical space needs\u201d takes place at the primary care centre.<\/p>\n
Cllr Bourke said he had a letter, a \u201cdefinitive reply\u201d back from the HSE on October 9 and that Paul Goff of the HSE stated to Deputy McGrath: \u201cI can confirm that the diabetic service is no longer operating from the Carrick-on-Suir primary care centre due to the limited availability of clinical spaces at that location.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an interim measure, a decision was made to operate selected multidisciplinary diabetes clinics from Our Lady\u2019s Hospital, Cashel, and St Vincent\u2019s Health Centre, Tipperary town.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand that monthly diabetes clinical nurse specialist (CNS) clinics for highly vulnerable patients continue to be provided at the Carrick-on-Suir primary care centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe diabetic service will be permanently relocated to the newly refurbished Tipperary South Chronic Disease Community Specialist Services, situated in the former St Paul\u2019s Unit on St. Luke\u2019s and Tipperary University Hospital Campus, Clonmel, Co Tipperary.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Tipperary South Chronic Disease Community Specialist Services facility is projected to be occupied and fully operational by December 2025.<\/p>\n
Cllr Bourke said it\u2019s \u201cbad news\u201d for Carrick once again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am asking this meeting to support me in writing back to the minister again to reconsider the decision to take this vital service away, not just away from the town of Carrick-on-Suir, but the surrounding areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained that Carrick is situated at the meeting point of three counties, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Tipperary, meaning that the centre provides services to patients coming from at least a 20-mile radius, which is a \u201chuge area,\u201d said Cllr Bourke.<\/p>\n
The cathaoirleach of Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District, Cllr David Dunne, seconded the motion to write to the minister.<\/p>\n
The community was promised that when St Brigid\u2019s Hospital was closed in 2020, a diabetic clinic would be established in the primary care centre, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe welcomed it with open arms, but we did describe it as a white elephant for a long time because there was a lack of services in there. We had no dental services there for a long time because we were waiting for a dental chair.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is adequate space in the care centre, so the HSE need to rethink their decision, and reinstate those services, added Cllr Dunne.<\/p>\n
Separately, Cllr Dunne said there had been an anonymous post put out on social media that St Brigid\u2019s was to be turned into an IPAS centre.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can confirm that that is not happening. I put out a statement there. I appealed to people who are putting stuff out on social media \u2013 if you\u2019re going to put out something, put your name to it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be going in under anonymous. Put your name to it. And then if you\u2019re wrong, everyone will know it\u2019s you who are wrong,” added Cllr Dunne.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mr McGrath has sharply criticised the removal of diabetic services from Carrick-on-Suir primary care centre and labelled it as a \u201cdevastating setback for a community still reeling from the loss of its beloved St Brigid\u2019s hospital\u201d.<\/p>\n
Deputy McGrath said he condemned the decision by the HSE to relocate diabetic care to other towns, calling it \u201ca betrayal of trust and a continuation of the erosion of healthcare in Carrick-on-Suir\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSt Brigid\u2019s was more than a hospital, it was a cornerstone of care, compassion, and community. When it was closed, we were promised that the primary care centre would become a centre of excellence for chronic disease management, especially diabetes. That promise has now been broken. <\/p>\n
\u201cVulnerable patients are being asked to travel long distances for care that was once available in their own town. This move is another slap in the face to every person who fought to keep St Brigid\u2019s open.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarrick-on-Suir cannot be left behind,\u201d said Deputy McGrath. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cllr Kieran Bourke told the October meeting of the local authority that Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath received a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101892,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[37898,103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-101891","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-eoin-kelleher","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-health-care","11":"tag-healthcare","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}