Nolan says Minister and HSE must allay staffing concerns for Birr Primary Care Centre

INDEPENDENT TD for Laois Offaly Carol Nolan has said she is engaging with the Chief Officer of the Midlands Louth Meath Community Health Organisation, Des O’Flynn, and the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to ensure that staffing positions for the new Primary Care Centre (PCC) in Birr are filled prior to its anticipated opening within the next two years.

Deputy Nolan has been engaging constructively on the delivery of the PCC with the HSE since 2021.

In recent days however the Independent TD has highlighted the recruitment and retention crisis for Speech & Language Therapy within the Children’s Disability Network Teams, in particular the plight of the CDN Teams within the HSE’s CHO Area 8 which encompasses Laois, Offaly, Longford, Westmeath, Louth and Meath.

Deputy Nolan says she is deeply concerned about this because the Birr Primary Care Centre is also expected to cater for Speech & Language Therapy in addition to Public Health, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dental and Mental Health services.

“I have been working continuously over the last number of years to ensure that Birr and the surrounding communities get the Primary Care Centre they deserve,” said Deputy Nolan.

“I am also aware however that there are significant problems around recruitment and retention, and I do not want to see these issues negatively impacting or delaying the delivery of these services.

“As I have highlighted recently, the highest national level of vacancies for our Children’s Disability Network Teams is in CHO8 and it stands at a staggering 43%. This is bound to have a profound knock-on effect for Birr PCC in terms of speech and language and occupational therapy,” she said.

“We also know that there is a 40% overall vacancy rate in Tullamore while there is a 56% vacancy rate in Portlaoise CDNT’s.”

“This level of vacancy must be addressed urgently. Birr Primary Care Centre has to be made an employment opportunity and destination of choice for our graduates and health care professionals. I will be working with the HSE and the Minister to ensure that this happens,” concluded Deputy Nolan.