Harris welcomes latest funding announcement for Wicklow: Plans for new Primary Care Centre in Rathdrum
Posted July 17th, 2012 in Arklow, Bray, Greystones, Rathdrum
New primary care centre for Rathdrum follows on from several significant capital funding announcements for County Wicklow over the last number of months
Fine Gael Deputy for Wicklow, Simon Harris, has welcomed plans to develop a new Primary Care Centre in Rathdrum. The announcement was made as part of a stimulus package unveiled by the Government today.
“It will come as a great boost to the people of County Wicklow that a new Primary Care Centre is planned for Rathdrum. The new centre will make a real difference to the way in which the people of Rathdrum and the surrounding areas access health care services in the community.
“Developing the network of Primary Care Centres is a key commitment in the Programme for Government. It was also a central plank of Fine Gael’s reform programme for the health service, which was developed in Opposition and is now being pursued in Government by Minister James Reilly and his colleague Minister Roisin Shorthall.
“Primary Care Centres, like the new one to be provided in Rathdrum, will be the first point of contact for people who need to access health services in the years ahead. In a developed Primary Care system, as envisaged by the Government, up to 95% of people’s day-to-day health and social care needs can be provided in a community setting.
“The new centre will make a substantial difference to the lives of people in the community. As well as treating illness, the centre in Rathdrum will help people to care for themselves, such as those with a long-term illness, and it will also help to prevent serious illness from occurring in the first place by providing easily accessible health services in the community.
“A focus on Primary Care not only benefits patients, it will also benefit the taxpayer. By allowing patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, stroke and asthma, to be treated near or at their homes, we can save the health service millions of euro by preventing hospital stays.
“I look forward to the development of the new Primary Care Centre in Rathdrum, alongside the development of the already announced Primary Care Centre for Greystones which is due to go to construction in September and to seeing the benefits it brings the local community.”
“Despite the difficult economic times this country faces, County Wicklow has been the beneficiary of many capital spending announcements since this new Government came to office including the upgrade of the N11, the multi-million euro flood protection scheme for Bray, several new schools building projects at primary and secondary level across the county, a new water treatment plant for Arklow, €4.9 million investment in new water piping and of course, today the latest announcement of a new Primary Care Centre in Rathdrum. All of these infrastructural projects will be of great benefit to our county on many levels and I look forward to continuing my work to secure their completion,” concluded Deputy Harris.