COLUMN: 'State-of-the-art healthcare facility in Tipperary and you'd hardly know it's there'

South Tipperary boasts a state-of-the-art healthcare facility, hidden away inside what looks like a domestic house, and in this country; the service feels otherworldly.

The only tell tale sign that this wonderful place provides vital medical procedures is the number of cars parked outside.

But you’d be lucky to even guess that this magical “home” is Ireland’s National Tongue Tie Centre.

The mood is set as soon as you walk in the door, the professionalism of all the staff, the ambient music, the sense of calm.

There’s a slickness to the care, a modernness.

It feels like healthcare that we’re not used to in Ireland.

It feels like how healthcare should be.

There are levels to the detail and it’s clear huge thought has gone into every aspect of the care you receive; from the people working at the facility to the environs you’re receiving the care in.

Even the coffee and biscuits the staff offer after an appointment, nicest cappuccino and biscuit I’ve ever had. Maybe these are details that only a family who has been there on more than one occasion might begin to notice.

That’s my family.

Both our children were tongue tied.

What the husband and wife duo, Justin (Consultant Paediatrician) and Kate Roche (Paediatric Physiotherapist), have created just outside Grange; is a first-class medical facility and you’d hardly know it is there.

We couldn’t be more grateful to them and their team for all they have done for Jack and Lily.

People come from all over the country to receive their care.

Our own experience has been, as you can probably guess by now, special. With Jack, two public health nurses told us not to worry about his tongue tie, as at the time he was feeding well.

Tongue tie can affect feeding and could also lead to speech problems. We did nothing until Jack’s speech development was, well, restricted shall we say.

Somehow, we found out about the National Tongue Tie Centre, I can’t even remember how we heard of it. When we went for our consultation, Justin was incredible.

He said Jack was tongue tied but there was no pressure to get the procedure done. We had to make the decision and of course, we opted to get his tongue released.

Jack got the procedure done when he was two-years-old and given his age it required physio before and after the procedure - which was not easy on us, or him. But now he is talking away and in truth, Jack was a new child just 24 hours after the release and even spoke new words. And then with Lily, we learned from our experience with Jack.

We were going down to Justin and Kate almost as soon as she was born. In the few weeks it took us to get down, Lily had a bad latch and it caused a lot of issues for Mammy during breastfeeding.

We couldn’t wait to get to Grange. And when we did, in eight minutes, the National Tongue Tie Centre had changed Lily’s life and our lives.

Just minutes after the procedure, Lily was breastfed without any nipple shield and without any issue.

We were relieved that after a hard few weeks the problem had been treated; with the utmost professionalism, by a team of medical professionals.

I suppose the purpose of this column is to bring people’s attention to the facility. And, to say thank you to Justin and Kate.

Thank you.

You and your team are improving lives. It is the definition of healthcare.