New Tuam primary care centre should get planning this summer

By SIOBHÃÂN HOLLIMAN PLANNING permission for a new multi-million euro primary care centre for Tuam will be sought by the HSE West this summer. It is the first stage in a €17 million revised plan for the former Grove hospital site where a community mental health day centre and day hospital, a community nursing unit and daycare centre and accommodation for staff in the disabilities service working on early intervention and school age teams is also planned. However, there is disappointment among local politicians that the dilapidated old Grove Hospital building will remain empty while the new primary care centre is built elsewhere on the extensive town centre site. Range of services Itâ€â„¢s envisaged that the centre will be finished by late next year or early 2015 and will have a wide range of services, including public health medicine and nursing, psychology, social work, physiotherapy, audiology, dermatology, ophthalmology, speech and language therapy, dental and orthodontic services, home help, drugs, dietetics and GP out-of-hours service. While it had been expected that such an extensive and costly development would incorporate the old Bon Secours hospital, the HSE West has confirmed that it will be located on a greenfield site within the Grove lands, as has happened with the ambulance base. A design team has already been appointed for the preparation of plans and a planning application for the development. A schedule of accommodation is currently being finalised. Cost £3 million The former Bon Secours building has lain idle since it was purchased by the then Western Health Board in late 2001 for £3 million. Despite plans being drawn up for its future use, nothing has happened with the building apart from the chapel and mortuary section being leased to the Courts Service for holding Tuam District Court sessions. Last July a radical new plan was revealed for the future development of the former Bon Secours Hospital which differed significantly from the previous long-term plans for a €50 million 60-bed community hospital and ambulance base. The Tuam Ambulance Base opened last year but it isnâ€â„¢t fully operational as funding isnâ€â„¢t available to allocate the required staff to allow it to operate on a 24-hour basis. There are fears that the extensive town centre site will be developed on a piece-meal basis and that failing to incorporate the old hospital in the planning application could result in it being left for another ten years. Area Manager for Galway-Roscommon Catherine Cunningham told this weekâ€â„¢s meeting of the West Regional Health Forum that the primary care centre is the first piece of the integrated health campus for Tuam and that the next stage would be the Mental Health Unit. Mental Health The Mental Health Day Centre will have 20 day-places and the day hospital will have eight places. Services will include an assessment centre, out-patient clinics, psychology, addiction counselling, generic counselling, group therapy and self help groups. Ms Cunningham said that discussions have taken place this week regarding the replacement of the Aras Mhuire Community Nursing Unit on Dublin Road and the further development of palliative care beds. 50 beds The proposed new Community Nursing Unit will have 50 beds, including long-stay, short-stay, dementia care, respite, palliative and rehabilitation as well as GP access. The Day Care Centre will have 30 places for older people and a further 15 for dementia care in order to support people who wish to live at home. The revised plans for the site are being seen as too much long-term as they are likely to rely on the disposal of the Aras Mhuire community nursing unit and the existing Tuam Health Centre on Vicar Street. Public representatives are sceptical about another big plan being promised for the Grove site as was pitched ten years ago and that Tuam is still not viewed as a priority for the development of health care services. Cllr Shaun Cunniffe is unhappy that the existing hospital building isnâ€â„¢t incorporated into the primary care centre plans while Cllr Seán Canney feels the HSE has locked up the Grove property and left it as an eyesore for the town. Cllr Canney is concerned that the fragmented development of the site could lead to the HSE using up any potential future asset that the lands could be and leaving a derelict building fronting the town streetscape. Deputy Colm Keaveney is confident that funding is available for the Tuam primary care centre once it gets through planning and he is anxious to learn the outcome of a technical report on the state of the old Grove building.