Editorial: Follow-through will be key for new primary care centre plan for Graignamanagh

Plans to construct a new state-of-the-art Primary Healthcare Centre in Graignamanagh are welcome indeed.

The new centre is to be a large two-storey facility with accommodation for GP practices and community nursing as well as dental services and other therapies. It will make a big difference to the town and hinterland, to have such a modern and fully-integrated services hub.

We’ve seen how well they work elsewhere in Kilkenny, with GPs, nurses, and other specialists and professionals all close by on one site. It’s vital now that public representatives and stakeholders work together and keep the pressure on to make sure this gets over the line. It’s by no means a fait accompli until the ribbon is cut.

We are all too familiar with promises from the Government and the HSE about what is going to happen and when it is going to happen, only to be left waiting years down the line wondering what the hold up is.

We see it in Dublin now with the National Children’s Hospital, delayed many years after it was to be finished, and hundreds of millions of euro over-budget.

We saw it here in Kilkenny  with the proposed MRI scanner for St Luke’s Hospital, delayed again and again after it was promised each year in the HSE’s capital plan, and despite local people having raised their own funds to go towards it.

So, welcome news, but the hard part is still to follow.

AIR QUALITY
Efforts are being made at  a local level  to monitor air quality levels, identify sources of pollution, and develop action plans to reduce emissions and protect  health.

It’s good to see the council being proactive in this regard, as data from the EPA shows harmful pollutants in the air have been on the rise. Reports suggest that fine particulate matter arising from burning solid fuels, such as coal, peat and wet wood, remains the biggest contributor to poor air quality in Ireland. 

Air pollution affects us all, so any steps to combat it are most welcome.