Senior HSE officials in the region are to meet with North West Oireachtas members and Regional Health Forum members on Friday to discuss the future of NoWDOC.
Confirmation of the meeting comes as Donegal County Council prepares to write to the HSE seeking clarification on the future of the service.
Cllr Donal Coyle said it’s important that clarification is given on the status of the Letterkenny base, and also the satellite units in Carndonagh, Derrybeg and Mountcharles.
He says the NoWDOC service is taking a lot of pressure off Letterkenny University Hospital, and any diminution of its services could have a serious knock on effect on the hospital:
A spokesperson for the HSE said,
“The NoWDOC GP Out of Hours Service provides an urgent GP service to patients in Co Donegal and South Leitrim.
The current operating model of GP OOH Service is managed and delivered by the HSE (NoWDOC) as part of a hybrid model with Caredoc providing GP’s for the delivery of care.
The HSE are continuing to work in partnership with NoWDOC & Caredoc to ensure that the public using the GP Out of Hours Service, and the staff working in the service, are provided with the necessary supports to deliver the best care to our service users, while ensuring that patient safety and quality of service are at the forefront of service delivery.
Exploratory discussions have commenced with relevant stakeholders surrounding the most effective arrangements needed to continue to deliver a safe quality driven service for our community, while also focusing on the need to examine the potential redesign of the operating model for the GP Out of Hours service in Donegal and South Leitrim going forward.
We remain fully committed to supporting our staff who are working in our NoWDOC service, and will ensure that we are engaging with staff directly and with their representative bodies throughout these discussions.
The HSE will continue to communicate and engage with all relevant stakeholders to ensure they are fully appraised of and consulted on any future developments.”
