West Cork health services
Deputy Collins raises multiple health crises in west Cork, including Bantry General Hospital, ambulance cover and the loss of SouthDoc in Castletownbere. He says local services are under severe strain.
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Comment on this
We have had a series of health crises in west Cork. During the summer, Bantry General Hospital closed for 16 days with no admissions. We also had a crisis in regard to ambulance services, where an ambulance is no longer in west Cork any night when four ambulances are meant to be. There is a new crisis at the doorstep of the people of west Cork. For the past two weeks, the people of Castletownbere have had no SouthDoc service due to the retirement of a locum, leaving Adrigole, Ardgroom, Allihies, Glengarriff and even Lauragh in south Kerry, without a proper SouthDoc service. The SouthDoc service in Kinsale ceased in 2014, as reported in the The Carrigdhoun newspaper last week. This is putting extreme pressure on great doctors in Castletownbere and its surrounds. Can the Tánaiste work with the Minister for Health to resolve this crisis in Castletownbere SouthDoc immediately before we have a serious loss of life?