The establishment of a Minor Injury Unit in Longford would help alleviate pressures on local hospitals.
Speaking in the Seanad this morning, Senator Micheál Carrigy argued that the St Joseph's Campus in the town is an ideal location for the service.
Addressing Junior Minister Thomas Byrne, who appeared on behalf of the Minister for Health, the Ballinalee postmaster said the unit could take major pressure off Mullingar Hospital.
The call follows ongoing discussions on the future of out of hours GP services in Longford following the closure of Midoc, the service used by local doctors to provide care outside of business hours.
The HSE have guaranteed interim cover until local GPs are able to put a new provider in place, with Senator Carrigy claiming the HSE are not approaching the situation with a high enough priority.
Speaking in the Seanad this morning, he called for further funding to develop the Dublin Road medical facilities:
'What I see is a lack of funding in that campus to some of the services that are there that could alleviate some of the queues or that that are in Mullingar Hospital.
By upgrading at least the X-ray service and given consideration to what is a successful minor injury clinic, but that's based only two or three miles from Mullingar Hospital.
Yet people in County Longford, are over an hour away in some cases from that and I think the consideration should be given.'
