Lahardane GP services to be moved to Crossmolina

PEOPLE in Lahardane will have to travel 10km to Crossmolina to avail of a GP service after the HSE admitted that this is the 'best option' available to them after failing to recruit a GP for the community.

A public meeting took place in Lahardane on Monday evening to seek information on what service will be available to the north Mayo community from October 1 when the current GP, Dr Enda Loftus, leaves to take up a vacant GP position in Crossmolina.

The meeting was attended by over 100 people who heard that there are currently 1,100 medical card holders in Lahardane who will now be left without a GP.

The people of Lahardane have been calling on the HSE to find a replacement for Dr Loftus but despite the Lahardane position being advertised on two occasions, the HSE have been unable to fill the vacancy.

The absence of a GP for Lahardane was raised this afternoon by local councillor Martin McLoughlin at a meeting of the HSE Regional Health Forum West who asked what steps the HSE were taking to fill the vacancy.

In response, John Fitzmaurice, the newly appointed Chief Officer of Community Healthcare West, admitted that no enquiries or applications were received for the vacant position in Lahardane and the 'best option' for existing patients may be to move to existing GP practices in Crossmolina.

“Discussions took place with the GPs in Lahardane and Crossmolina to consider the options available for maintaining a GP service to the people of Lahardane following the departure of the current GP. The outcome of those discussions was to provide a service from a two doctor GP practice in Crossmolina which is less than 10 kilometres away.

“While this may cause inconvenience for a number of patients in Lahardane, it is considered the best option available to the HSE due to its inability to fill the position in Lahardane despite making efforts to do so,” he said in response to Cllr McLoughlin's question.

When pressed by Cllr McLoughlin on whether the HSE will be providing a locum doctor to provide a service in Lahardane, Mr Fitzmaurice said they would not and the GMS list of patients will be transferred to the Crossmolina surgery.

The absence of a GP for Lahardane was also criticised by other local councillors with Cllr Blackie Gavin, Cllr John O'Hara and Cllr Michael Kilcoyne all telling the meeting that the Lahardane vacancy must be filled.

Cllr Kilcoyne claimed that he was aware that a doctor had expressed interest in filling the service in Lahardane but was 'fobbed off' by the HSE. Mr Fitzmaurice said he was not aware of this but would follow up on any interest in someone filling the position.

The loss of the GP service in Lahardane has been a fear for the community since the retirement of Dr Paul Nolan in August 2018 who had been the local GP for a long number of years. Dr Loftus has been in Lahardane since February 2020 after replacing Dr Attila Frank who vacated the position after less than a year in the role.