Ladies and gentlemen.
I am delighted to be here today to officially open this magnificent Primary Care Centre in Ballina. This is an important day for primary care in the Ballina area and I would like to wish the entire multi-disciplinary team every success. I am sure these shared facilities will enhance your ability to deliver seamless and comprehensive care to the people of this area.
Great progress has been made in recent years in the development of Primary Care, to the improvement in facilities and the variety of health services that people can access in their community. This modern facility testifies to this.
The development of primary care services is an essential component of the health service reform process. In a developed primary care system, up to 95% of people’s day-to-day health and social care needs can be met in the primary care setting. Effectively they are one-stop shops that will provide the first point of contact for the majority of the population in the years ahead.
Our overall aim is to develop services in the community which give people direct access to integrated multi-disciplinary teams which include general practitioners, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and others. Additional services such as Speech and Language Therapy may be provided on a sessional basis.
Each team will be supported by a wider range of professionals, including pharmacists, dieticians, psychologists and chiropodists who will form a Health and Social Care Network.
Currently over 380 primary care teams are operating at varying degrees of functionality, providing services for over 3 million people and over 1,400 GPs are involved in the development of these Teams. The HSE is striving to get Primary Care Teams fully operational but greater progress in this area is needed and it will receive significant action during this Government’s time in office.
Primary Care Teams make a real and substantial difference to people’s quality of life. They don’t just treat illness. They support people to care for themselves and their families in a variety of ways including supporting those with long term problems and preventing illness from occurring.
International research has shown that shared premises supports and promotes successful team working in the primary care setting. This new facility will encourage and facilitate interaction across all the health care professionals enabling the skill range to meet the increasingly complex needs of service users who need the skills of different professionals.
Modern, well-equipped, accessible premises - and this is a perfect example - are central to the effective functioning of Primary Care Teams.
The provision of integrated services where a patient can have access to the GP, Public Health Nurses, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, Dieticians and many other services, all in the same building is the kind of service the public wants and deserves, and it is the way forward.
It is also encouraging to see that significant progress has been made by the HSE in re-organising and re-aligning existing resources and in recruiting new staff in Primary Care.
The development of the Primary Care Centre here in Ballina is part of this wider HSE Primary Care Centre development programme. Inter-disciplinary working is key to the successful working of Primary Care Teams and I commend the staff of Ballina Primary Care Centre for their success in this regard.
I congratulate you all and again wish you every success in the future.