Eugene Murphy TD has received assurances from the HSE that no decision has been made in relation to aligning the Boyle Primary Care Centre with the North Western Division.
The Fianna Fail Deputy said that concerns had been raised through his constituency office that the Boyle based Primary Care Centre may be about to come under the remit of a different community health organisation.
Boyle Primary Care Centre currently operates under the CHO Area 2, Galway, Mayo and Roscommon but concerns had been raised with Deputy Murphy that it may be moved into CHO Area 1 (Sligo/ Leitrim/ West Cavan, Cavan/ Monaghan, Donegal).
Deputy Murphy received assurances this week from Tony Canavan Chief Officer, Community Healthcare Organisation (CHO) – Area 2 (Galway, Mayo and Roscommon) that no decision had been made to align Boyle with CHO Area 1.
A statement from the HSE read: “Boyle Primary Care Centre commenced construction on 30th May 2015. As part of the spatial mapping exercise in establishing the Community Healthcare Organisation, areas which border other CHO areas are being examined. No decision has been made to align Boyle with CHO1, if such as decision is reached services would continue to be delivered as per current practice. The examination of areas which border other CHO areas is based on established patient pathways between acute hospital services, travel patterns etc. Boyle Primary Care Centre is due to be completed in July 2017 and will significantly enhance the capacity of existing services and allow the development of new services.”
Eugene Murphy reiterated his opposition to any suggestion of aligning the Boyle Primary Care Centre with the North Western Division. “I am opposed to such a move could mean for patients and staff alike –we could end up with the situation whereby certain issues are dealt with in Boyle but patients may then to asked to attend Sligo or further afield for different health issues which would be totally inconvenient for people in the Boyle catchment area,” said Deputy Murphy.