SouthDoc Blackpool reduced to a 'ghost service', says Cork TD

A CORK TD has claimed that SouthDoc Blackpool has been reduced to a “ghost service”, citing figures which show 1,000 fewer patients were seen at the centre in January 2024 compared to January 2023.

Thomas Gould, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, said the HSE needs to “stand with the community and force SouthDoc to keep Blackpool open” after the figures obtained by the deputy revealed a significant drop in the number of patients seen at the centre.

However, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare has said there are no plans to withdraw the availability of or access to SouthDoc’s services in Cork City or for patients in the North Cork area generally.

Drop in patients 

Mr Gould requested through parliamentary question (PQ) the number of patients seen in SouthDoc Blackpool in January 2024, January 2023, and January 2022.

The figures provided to Mr Gould by the HSE revealed that 1,072 fewer patients were seen at SouthDoc Blackpool in January 2024 than in January 2023.

According to the HSE, there were 394 patients seen at the centre in January 2024, down from 1,466 patients in January 2023 and 1,469 patients seen at the centre in 2022.

The head of service of primary care at Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, Priscilla Lynch, said in response to the TD that SouthDoc “provides and continues to be committed to the continuation of the provision of the out-of-hours service in Blackpool”.

“SouthDoc continues to provide care and access to care to the out-of-hours services in the area,” she said. “Blackpool Treatment Centre continues to be available to patients by appointment only, and there are no plans to alter the availability of this centre from service and/or for when in-person consultations are deemed clinically necessary by a doctor.

Reduction in GPs

In a separate parliamentary question, Mr Gould asked the minister for health to provide an update on the number of GPs employed in Cork, by facility, by SouthDoc in 2019 and currently in 2024, respectively.

The response showed that in 2019, two GPs were working out of Blackpool SouthDoc and that there is currently one GP working out of the centre.

Mr Gould said that, while the HSE has been telling him that there has been no reduction in SouthDoc’s service, he feels these numbers paint a different picture.

“These figures lay clear what I have been saying for months now,” he said. “SouthDoc Blackpool has reduced its service to a ghost service. With 1,000 less patients seen in Blackpool in January 2024, and one less doctor operating from there, it is no longer a full service to the people of Cork’s northside.”

'No plans' to withdraw access to services 

A Cork Kerry Community Healthcare spokesperson said SouthDoc is committed to the long-term continuation of the provision of the out-of-hours service in Cork city, and that there are no plans to withdraw the availability of or access to SouthDoc’s services in Cork city or for patients in the North Cork area.

“Cork city GPs are valued members of the SouthDoc co-operative, and there are no plans to withdraw access to SouthDoc’s services from their patients,” they said. “There are also no plans to withdraw the availability of the centres in the city from service and/or for when in-person consultations in this base are deemed clinically necessary by a doctor.”

They said that if an individual in Cork city requires care, that care will be provided by appointment in either the Blackpool or Kinsale Road Treatment Centre or via home visit — depending on the clinical condition of the patient.

“There is no reduction in service to city patients and existing resources can meet the demand comfortably,” said the spokesperson.