Urgent calls for an out-of-hours GP service in Kildare South

Kildare South and Labour Party TD Mark Wall has today called for an out-of-hours GP service to be located in Kildare South, highlighting that such a facility is desperately needed given population increases in Kildare. Currently the only out-of-hours GP service is the KDoc located in the Vista Primary Care Centre in Naas, Kildare North.

In a Parliamentary Question, Deputy Wall asked for the HSE to consider providing an afterhours GP service in Athy, Kildare. However, the HSE responded saying that a large number of GPs are provided through the KDoc in Naas. This means that it is not currently viable to provide a second location.

Deputy Wall said, “We have people in parts of Kildare South travelling nearly 40 minutes by car to access the KDoc in Naas. It can be well over an hour in more rural locations to get to the KDoc if they don’t have a car given the lack of accessible public transport across Kildare South. That can be an extremely long and stressful journey for a parent with a small child who is unwell.

“Given the growth of the population in Kildare, particularly in places like Athy and Kildare Town, a second out-of-hours GP service is urgently needed to cover Kildare South. More and more people are living in Kildare South, and we can’t have a situation where there is only one afterhours GP service covering the entire county when there is a ready to go site that is being underutilised.

“The HSE has said it is not viable to provide such a facility through the KDoc. This deeply disappointing as we have a purpose-built health centre on the Dublin Road in Athy. This is prime location for another afterhours GP service. I am again calling on the HSE need to give serious consideration to setting up this service to meet the needs of an ever-growing population in Kildare South.”