Construction of Portlaoise Primary Care Centre could finally proceed 20 years after Government strategy

More than two decades after the Government decided to set up primary health care centres and teams right around Ireland, plans could finally be lodged this year to build such a facility and service in Portlaoise.

The news that the HSE has advanced plans to a point where it could seek planning permission in 20024 also comes some four years after €10 million was allocated to build a Primary Care Centre in Portlaoise.

Progress in advancing the centre to be located at St Fintan's Hospital in Portlaoise was outlined by Laois Offaly Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley. 

“Following on from a parliamentary question I submitted on the matter, the HSE have responded to tell me that finally the funding has been allocated for planning and design. The design team have been appointed and the preliminary design has been approved. It is expected that planning permission for this project will be lodged in Quarter 4 of this year,” he said.

Dep Stanley, who recently flagged a shortage of GPs in Laois, said he and Sinn Féin representative have been working on the delivery of a centre were GPs and other health professions would see patients.

"It is vital that Portlaoise has fully functioning, staffed and resourced primary care centres like this one. I look forward to the commencement of this project and I will monitor its progress until then,” he said.

It's more than four years since a budget of €10 million was confirmed for the new Primary Care Centre on the Dublin Road site as part of a major expansion of local health services. It was also revealed in March 2020 that four General Practices in Portlaoise had signed up to locate in the centre on the Dublin Road.

Work began at St Fintan’s Hospital in August 2019 on phase one of a significant expansion of HSE community health services delivered in Portlaoise. At the time masterplan was submitted to Laois County Council which outlined that the work was part of an expected multi-phased expansion of services on the site. Central to the project is the building of the new Primary Care Centre.

Primary Care teams and centres were put at the centre of health service delivery in 2001 when the then Minister for Health Micheál Martin published the Primary Care Strategy. That was further reinforced in 2017 in the Sláintecare report.

Portlarington has had a Primary Care Centre since 2011 with the conversion of the landmark Kilnacourt House.

The HSE says Primary care centres are modern, purpose-designed buildings that provide a single location for a primary care team to work from.

Primary care centres provide a single point of access to health services. The HSE says they offer an ideal alternative to hospitals for the management of many aspects of care for long-term conditions like diabetes, asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Primary care centres and other community facilities can also be developed to support access to diagnostics and to provide minor surgery.

The Government says they have a key role in delivering a reformed health service and the development of primary care centres is an important part of Sláintecare. The Government says it is committed to continued investment in the development of primary care centres across the country.