Official Opening of HSE Tallaght Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre

Posted on: 10 May 2018

On Friday 4th May 2018 Taoiseach Leo Varadkar & Minister for Health officially launched the HSE Tallaght Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre, The Russell Centre, Tallaght Cross, Tallaght, Dublin 24.

HSE Head of Primary Care Ms Ann O’Shea welcomed everyone to Tallaght Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre and noted that “Tallaght Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre is the first of its kind in Ireland, the centre has enabled multi-disciplinary services previously delivered from a number of locations, to be delivered on a single site.” 

Ms O’Shea thanked HSE Estates, Talacare Ltd, Trinity College Dublin, GPs at Tallaght Cross, South Dublin County Council, Tallaght University Hospital, The Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital and all of the HSE Primary Care Staff for their dedication in working towards achieving the vision of an Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre that was developed by Professor Tom O’ Dowd (GP) and Professor Joe Barry (Trinity College Dublin).

In his address the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar explained “ The Government has allocated almost €11bn of funding for health infrastructure as part of Project Ireland 2040. While our programme for hospital building may get most of the headlines, the development of community-based facilities like this one is just as important. Continued investment in primary care facilities is a vital part of our plan to improve access to care in the community, so people can avoid hospital unless it’s really needed. This centre is so much more than a new building with purpose-designed facilities, although it is certainly that.  It’s an incubator for – and an example of – the new ways of working that underpin the integrated health care system set out in the Slàintecare plan. It’s the first integrated Academic and Primary Care Centre in Ireland, which means that we have three major healthcare activities of professional education, research, and patient care under one roof.”

Minister Simon Harris welcomed  the fact that “the local community of Tallaght and South West Dublin are able to benefit from the wide range of services being delivered from this new centre. The high-quality primary care services being delivered from here can make a real and substantial difference to people’s quality of life. This centre – and others like it around the country – will have a key role to play in delivering on the Sláintecare vision of a reformed health service in which primary and community care are at the heart of the system”.

Trinity College’s Dean of Health Sciences Professor Mary McCarron said today’s event was a watershed for primary care in Ireland. “High quality research, excellence in teaching and innovations in healthcare delivery were all happening in this new partnership, all with the aim of providing the best healthcare experience to the people of Tallaght and beyond. The undergraduate training for medical, nursing and midwifery students and the postgraduate training in community health, implementation science and addiction recovery will all add to the quality of people’s lives”. 

Professor Tom O’Dowd and Dr Darach Ó Ciardha (GPs at Tallaght Cross) reflected that "All the team at 'GPs at Tallaght Cross' are heartened by the interest that both the Taoiseach and Minister have expressed in our practice.  Since our expansion into this state of the art premises we have seen real benefits for our patients from a modern, comfortable physical environment, our expanding range of services and our close working relationship with members of the Primary Care Team and HSE Community staff.  A real recognition at the highest level of the hard work and innovation and intrinsic value of General Practice is important to us."

The Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre building at Tallaght Cross was developed by Talacare Limited an Irish company specialising in the promotion and development of modern primary healthcare centres. The Ditchley Group and Glenbrier Construction were also involved with the project.   Tallaght Cross Pharmacy and Iheed (medical education online) also provide services from the building.

Tom O’Callaghan, Chief Executive Officer, iheed, commented “iheed is delighted to be co-located with our colleagues from Trinity College Medical School and the HSE, which allows for innovation and collaboration between various medical expertise and technologists in developing the next generation of online medical education programmes for Ministries across the globe”.

HSE Services at Tallaght Integrated Academic Primary Care Centre based in The Russell Centre, Tallaght Cross, Tallaght, Dublin 24 can be contact by telephone on 0766957601 or 076695750. HSE services provided at the centre are:

• Regional Audiology Services
• Dietician Service
• Adult & Paediatric Primary Care  Occupational Therapy Services
• Adult & Paediatric Primary Care Physiotherapy Services
• Public Health Nursing Service 
• Registered General Nurse Wound Dressing Clinic
• Out of hours wound management clinic
• Psychology Service
• Primary Care  Social Work Service
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Integrated Care Programme for Older People with links to Tallaght University Hospital
• Integrated team for Respiratory Chronic Disease management with links to Tallaght University Hospital.
• Tallaght Roma Integrated Project (TRIP) which includes dedicated GP and Interpretive and community signposting services.
• Coombe Women’s and Infants University Hospital antenatal outpatient clinic
• Integrated antenatal classes (Coombe Women’s and Infants University Hospital , Public Health Nursing and Physiotherapy)

Credit – Press Release: Health Service Executive, Office of the Chief Officer, Community Healthcare