PLANS are progressing to relocate the NoWDOC surgery from its current site to the Errigal Chronic Disease Management Hub in Letterkenny.
A lease for the current NoWDOC premises at Oldtown, Letterkenny has been in place since April 2005, but a notice to quit the building was issued in December 2022 by the landlord’s solicitor to the HSE.
Dermot Monaghan, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare Organisation, told a meeting of the Regional Health Forum West that the notice to quit was issued due to concerns around fire safety. He said the move to the new location is imminent but the service is not facing imminent eviction from its current location.
The out of hours service will be relocated to a hub on the Kilmacrennan Road, across from the hospital, while the administration sector will be located at another unidentified site.
In response to a question by Cllr Gerry McMonagle, Mr Monaghan said, “On foot of current Infection Control advice which recommends a separation of clinical & administration areas where possible, the option to deliver the clinical element of the service from the Errigal Chronic Disease Management Hub (CDM) is being progressed.
“The CDM Hub is a fantastic facility across the road from the Hospital and having it working out of hours close to the emergency department is probably nearly the only way that could be improved in coterminosity is if it was in the ED. We intend to sweat that asset as much as we can,” said Mr Monaghan.
It was also confirmed that the identification of an alternative administrative hub for a number of HSE Services is ongoing which will include the Nursing Triage and Administrative Sections of the NoWDOC Service. It was also confirmed that the site will definitely be in Letterkenny.
“It is not an imminent eviction order so there is time. I think there is three or four months and we are working proactively on this,” said Mr Monaghan.
The current operating model of GP out of hours service is managed and delivered by the HSE (NoWDOC) as part of a hybrid model with Caredoc providing GP’s for the delivery of care.
Cllr Albert Doherty questioned the current examination of NowDoc and CareDoc services model.
He questioned whether the HSE will ensure that current sub-station service delivery bases are maintained, including Carndonagh in Inishowen.
Mr Monaghan answered, “Exploratory discussions have recently commenced with relevant stakeholders surrounding the most effective arrangements needed to continue to deliver a safe quality driven service for our community.
“The examination of the service at this time forms part of the HSE response to clinical concerns raised by Caredoc and NoWDOC staff. We remain fully committed to supporting our staff who are working in our NoWDOC service, and we will continue to ensure that we maintain excellent working relationships with all our partners and are very focused on working with staff and their representative bodies to explore all options available for the potential redesign of the operating model for the GP Out of Hours service in Donegal and South Leitrim to meet any challenges which are being identified.”
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