Call for overhaul of rural health strategy

The Government must introduce a 20-year rural health strategy if health services for rural dwellers are to meet the standard of their city counterparts, a national rural conference was told yesterday.

Health services for rural communities are in need of a major overhaul that can only be achieved through a specific rural health taskforce, Irish Rural Link (IRL), a national advocacy group for rural communities, said.

IRL was concerned that health strategies to-date have concentrated on the needs of people living in or near urban centres, its chief executive Séamus Boland told its annual conference.

"There is a definite need for the Government and all the interested parties to begin to also look at how they are going to cater for those people who live well outside the various urban centres around the country, especially those who live in remote rural areas."

The loss of A&E services in regional hospitals meant there was an urgent need for some services, including primary care units and community defibrillators, Mr Boland said.

Tax incentives should be introduced in the next budget to encourage primary care centres to be built in remote areas."

IRL also wants grants made available to community groups so that they can buy defibrillators to deal with emergency cardiac events.

For many rural people the nearest A&E unit is 30 minutes to an hour away, he said.