Appeal for more services at Stradbally Health Centre
An appeal has been made for expanded services at Stradbally Health Centre. File image
AN appeal for more services at Stradbally Health Centre was made at a council meeting, following a rapid rise in the number of elderly residents.
The small centre on Main Street opens just one morning a week, providing only public health nursing and community welfare services.
By contrast, the village of Emo has a five-day centre with GP and public health nursing, while other health centres around the county also have longer opening hours and offer additional services such as physiotherapy, chiropody and dental treatment.
Cllr Vivienne Phelan highlighted the limited practice at Stradbally Health Centre, as she asked Laois Co Council to write to health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to ask about plans for the centre. She also asked if the Stradbally centre would be considered for investment under the 2026 HSE Capital Plan.
Cllr Phelan pointed out that three new housing estates have opened in the town, catering primarily for the elderly and those with disabilities.
“Other health centres in the county offer services such as chiropody and physiotherapy and people shouldn’t have to travel for those appointments. We have to speak up about it,” she told the June meeting of Graiguecullen-Portarlington Municipal District.
Describing health centre services in the east of the county as “very slack” compared to other areas, she added that a parliamentary question on the issue would also be put to the health minister.
The Stradbally councillor said: “I think it is wrong that people living in our area have to travel for appointments, if they could be provided locally.”
Cllr Paschal McEvoy agreed, saying that over 100 houses were built in Stradbally over the past three or four years and residents need more services.
According to HSE listings, Stradbally Health Centre opens for only three hours every Wednesday, with public health nursing available from 9.30am-10.30am and community welfare from 10.30am-12.30pm.
A council official confirmed that a letter would be sent to the health minister following the municipal meeting.
