Health Centre facilities ‘far from tolerable’
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Facilities at the Ballycastle Health Centre building have been described as ‘far from tolerable’ by Health Minister Michael McGimpsey.
The future of Ballycastle Health Centre has been debated by the Assembly, amid fears that the building no longer meets the needs of its patients and their doctors.
While Health Minister, Michael McGimpsey, has not visited the premises, he said the basic requirements of disability access, confidential consultation, provision of public and patient toilets were 'far from tolerable' at the Coleraine Road site.
In an Assembly debate last Tuesday, North Antrim MLAs Ian Paisley Jnr, Daithi McKay and Declan O'Loan, asked Mr McGimpsey to act on the present state of conditions that GPs and patients have to face at the health centre.
DUP representative, Ian Paisely Jnr, told the Assembly that he had visited the health centre last month and "heard at first hand from the GPs of the building inadequacy to deliver twenty-first century medical care".
Three GPs, Dr McLister, Dr Burns and Dr O'Kane, lobbied MLAs for support for their business case for their own premises at a new site in the town.
However, MLAs went a step further and asked the Minister to look at new and better facilities for the people of Ballycastle and Rathlin.
In a letter to the MLAs, the three doctors, who run one of the two GP practices that operate in Ballycastle Health Centre, detailed the case of a disabled patient who was unable to gain proper access to the health care building, and on one occasion, a collapsed patient had to be manually lifted from a wheelchair to the treatment room couch by three members of staff as the wheelchair did not fit through the door.
“This," the letter said, "caused immense distress to both the patient and the family members who were there. Our disabled patients also have no access to toilet facilities."
Ballycastle Health Centre is trust-owned and was built in 1966 to house one GP service. During the past 42 years, the service has increased, but there has been no structural expansion of the building.
The health centre now houses two GP practices, each with three GPs and their accompanying clerical and auxiliary services. The GP practices serve around 8,000 people.
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety's Health Estates Agency has said that improvement to the building is "uneconomical or impossible regarding functional suitability for GP clinical practice".
“That tells its own story," said Mr Paisley Jnr, "the building is no longer fit for the purpose for which it is being used."
“It is important that a new health centre is built in the coastal town of Ballycastle.
“It [the building] has no minor surgery facility; it's treatment rooms have no disabled access; it has no disabled toilets and it has no public toilets either...a new building must be put in place," he said.
He continued: "During my visit to the practice, I was informed that some healthcare has to be administered behind screens in the waiting area.
His fellow North Antrim representative, Daithi McKay, also said the health centre building was no yet compatible with provisions in the Disability Discrimination Act (1995).
He also said there were problems with confidentiality at reception and in the waiting areas.
“The doctors in the health centre deliver an excellent service for the people of Ballycastle and Rathlin Island, but they need adequate facilities to match the excellent service," said the Sinn Fein MLA.
Priorities
According to Mr Paisley Jnr, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has prioritised the project, but financial pressures have meant that there has been very little action.
“I hope the Minister recognised that what is happening in my constituency is no longer acceptable and that he will take measures to improve that unsatisfactory situation.
“Ballycastle health centre finds itself in an ineffective location and with an inefficient structure....I urge him to ensure that the plan to develop a new GP surgery at the Dalriada site is given the go-ahead."
Speaking for the case of a new health centre, SDLP MLA, Declan O'Loan said the facilities had been inadequate for a long time, with the process dating back at least five years, but each time, was hampered by a change in direction or financial constraints.
“I am told that the current state of play is that representatives of the Northern Trust recently met members of both practices and are reviewing what structural work could be done in the existing building, including the creation of an additional surgery and separate reception areas, subject to the availability of resources," he said.
He continued: "The problems at Ballycastle health centre highlight an unacceptable and intolerable situation."
