HSE Confirms Doctor Available Nightly To Operate Shannondoc Service In Clare

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The HSE has confirmed that a doctor has been available every night in 2021 and to date in 2022 to operate the Shannondoc service in Clare.

However, a doctor isn’t required to be on site, to be considered available to treat patients at the county’s five out-of-hours centres.

 

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There are five treatment centres in Clare – three of which operate both midweek and on weekends and during bank holidays.

Ennis and Shannon provide the only overnight services in Clare, while Kilrush and Ennistymon operate solely from 9am to 7pm on weekend and public holidays.

Responding to a parliamentary question from Scariff Independent TD Michael McNamara, MidWest Community Healthcare confirmed that over 99,000 calls were dealt with by the service in 2021 and that almost 72,000 calls have been triaged in the first nine months of this year.

The correspondence confirmed that staff are present at the core centre in Ennis within operating hours (6pm – 8pm midweek, 6pm-9am on Bank Holidays and 9am to 8am on public holidays).

Staff are also available to attend regional centres if required.

However, Clare’s four regional centres in Miltown Malbay, Shannon, Kilrush and Ennistymon, may not always have a doctor on site.

If a doctor was not present in a regional treatment centre, a mobile doctor has been available to patients as required each night in 2021 and to date in 2022.

Shannondoc has confirmed that where there is increased demand in certain areas, support teams can be deployed from other areas and that every patient who needs to be seen, is seen.