GP service returns to Coole thanks to Bellview Clinics

Coole Medical Centre has reopened this week, bringing GP services back to the village following the closure of the facility. Members of the local community were invited to a meet-and-greet at the centre last week, to meet the team and hear about plans for the service.

The centre will be operated by Bellview Clinics, and Dr Neil Healy said: “We are genuinely delighted to be bringing Coole Medical Centre back into operation. A considerable amount of work has gone in to getting the centre ready, and it is satisfying to see an important local healthcare facility returning to serve the community.

"At Bellview Clinics, we recognise the importance of access to good-quality primary care close to home. Our intention is to make a long-term commitment to Coole, building a sustainable service that meets local needs and earns the trust of the community over the coming years.

“We look forward to welcoming patients back and making Coole Medical Centre a valued part of the local community once again.”

Dr Healy has a long association with the village, having begun his medical career in Coole in 1999 before establishing a GP practice in Mullingar in 2007. Since then, he his wife and work partner, Dr Paula Donnelly, have developed a network of general practices across Westmeath and Longford.

Speaking to those gathered last week, Dr Healy said the group had reached what he described as a sustainable, long-term arrangement for the practice. “We certainly expect and hope to be here for decades to come as opposed to anything shorter than that,” he said.

Bellview Clinics plan to gradually expand services and staffing at Coole, and are recruiting for various roles.

Dr Kyle Sinclair will serve as lead GP at the centre, and existing GPs within the Bellview Clinics group will work on a rota to provide cover.

Dr Healy thanked Anne Earle, practice manager, who has been overseeing recruitment and preparations for the reopening, and Mary McCormack for her work in preparing the centre.

Hours will be 9am-12.30pm and 2-6pm, Monday to Friday. Patients will also have access to out-of-hours GP services through CareDoc.

Dr Healy said: “We will bring all the resources we have within the Bellview Clinics Group to Coole to ensure this is a sustainable healthcare asset for the locality.

“It will rely on the support and, I suppose, us earning the trust of you, the locals and the local community here. That’s the key for this thing to work.”

One local present at the event said that people in the area had experienced doctors “coming and going” and often met different GPs when attending the practice. “Trust is the key word. You come here, and you meet a different GP every time, which isn’t ideal,” the resident said.

That person also asked what the reopening would mean for patients who had moved to a GP in Castlepollard following the closure of the Coole practice some years ago. “It’s not good to have to pull out from him and come back again; how is that to be handled?” they asked.

Responding to the concerns, Dr Healy said the decision would be an individual one for each patient. “We feel we have a long-term, sustainable option now here in Coole. In relation to people making their individual choices, I personally, and with my group, none of us want to upset an existing doctor-patient relationship built on respect, trust and good quality healthcare.

“Having said that, we’re in the business of healthcare, and any new patients who want to join us will be welcomed back. The one thing I will guarantee is they will get high-quality medical care, and they will get it in the long term,” Dr Healy said.

He acknowledged the concerns about the turnover of GPs in Coole. “I really hope and believe there will not be the same level of fluctuation that people have seen over the years, that there will be consistency,” he said.

“I know that’s what the people of Coole are crying out for, that the services are here, here when you need them to be, and we hope that we will earn back your trust.”

Plans for the wider site were also discussed during the event, and Peter O’Connor confirmed a desire to develop an 80-bed nursing home facility adjoining the medical practice.

Bellview Clinics has links with the University of Limerick, and Dr Healy said medical and nursing students could spend time at the Coole practice once it is established.

“Our intention is to make a long-term commitment to Coole, building a sustainable service that meets local needs and earns the trust of the community over the coming years,” he reiterated.

Dr Healy highlighted the wider importance of access to a GP in communities, recalling a phrase from a former colleague, ‘no doctor, no village’, used during a 2016 campaign involving Prof Liam Glynn of the University of Limerick.

“Having healthcare and access to healthcare on your doorstep or close to the people, that’s very important,” Dr Healy said.