Student health service will not move to new facilities despite pressure on system

The €50 million extension which brought the student and sports centres together under one roof remains unfinished almost four years after its opening. The oversubscribed Student Health and Counselling Services were, according to the original plan for the centre, set to move into a new  facility on the third floor.

• 130 on waiting list for a counselling appointment at time of going to print

• Two week waiting list for doctor and counselling appointments

• Options being examined include external relief for counselling service

• Services need more staff but have nowhere to house them

This however has not materialised, and both remain in in situ above the students’ union corridor in  the old student centre. The third floor space in the student centre extension sits above a corridor  which houses meeting rooms, society offices, and campus media outlets including the University Observer.

It is currently in an unfinished state awaiting fit out – the cost of which is as high as €1 million,  according to Director of Student Services & Facilities Dominic O’Keefe. Speaking to the College Tribune, O’Keefe stated that the new medical centre was planned at a time when there was an  intention to increase staffing levels in the Student Centre, but that this has not been realised as intended due to the difficult economic climate.

According to a publication produced by the architects of the centre, Fitzgerald Kavanagh and Partners, the purpose built medical centre was to offer a space in which “the highly specialised medical, psychological and psychiatric needs of the student body can be addressed in an  atmosphere of confidence and clinical rigour.”

While there is no concrete plan as to what the space will play host to, it is certain that the Student Health and Counselling Services are no longer being considered for a move. This is despite students currently experiencing a two-week waiting period for non-emergency appointments with both doctors and counsellors.

O’Keefe insists that the Student Health and Counselling Services will receive investment in the form of staff and that it is hoped to introduce an additional GP to the facility by the beginning of the 2016/20217 academic year in September. This, he hopes, will help in reducing the waiting time for an appointment to four days. He also spoke of plans to convert a corner office in the old student  centre which will be made available for the use of the counselling service.

As to why the move will not take place as intended, O’Keefe cited a need to balance spending with the provision of services, stating “If we moved the medical centre from where it is to where it was  planned to go, having spent a million Euro, what would change?”

Speaking on the matter, UCDSU Welfare Officer Clare O’Connor quoted as 130 the number of  students currently awaiting an appointment to see a counsellor.

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