‘Fragmented and unpredictable’: Healthcare services failing island communities

MAKING SURE THAT you don’t forget your life jacket and wellies, and worrying if there will be a “hurricane squall” making your commute impossible, are not normal concerns for your average GP.

It is not all rosy, however, as Lineen-Curtis has a raft of concerns about the condition of the health centre, lack of storage for vital equipment, and the absence of emergency transport on the island. The importance of the role played by Lineen-Curtis and other GPs was recognised in a 2017 HSE review of primacy care services for the islands as they provide “a much broader range of services to their patients”.

This summer, for example, Lineen-Curtis said that a lady came off her bike, broke her hip and “had to be transported in agony” to the helipad in the back of a van, while a nurse used the light on her phone to keep an eye on the injury until the helicopter arrived. Constant need of repair Other islands are facing similar issues, including Arranmore off the Donegal coast. According to John McCafferty, manager of the island’s community co-operative and volunteer emergency medical technician , islanders have been crying out for a new ambulance without any answer.

This included carrying a stroke patient in the back of his van to the waiting helicopter, as well as tow-starting the ambulance to get a heart-attack patient safely to the lifeboat, he said. McCafferty said the community was promised a new public health nurse within a year, with no action to date – an “unacceptable” situation, he said.

‘Not fit for purpose’ Back on Clare Island, Lineen-Curtis has also raised concerns with the conditions of the health centre itself. While the facility may have been suitable at some point in the past, it’s now “completely outdated [and] completely unfit for purpose”, Lineen-Curtis told us on our visit to the island.

Niall Sargent / Noteworthy Side of the health centre where GP Dr Noreen Lineen-Curtis wanted a storage unit installed Niall Sargent / Noteworthy / Noteworthy When HSE staff visited in July last year, she raised the issue and followed up on several occasions via emails, seen by Noteworthy, in which she asked for plans of the site to draw up a “more definite proposal” for the storage unit.

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