TD: Admit SouthDoc Blackpool is closed

The Government and the HSE have been called on to “finally admit” that SouthDoc Blackpool is closed.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould made the comment as it emerged that not one patient was treated at the Blackpool facility in January.

He said these figures show SouthDoc Blackpool is closed while adding that people have told him they are not being given the option of an appointment in Blackpool and are instead paying for taxis or driving to the SouthDoc Southside facility at Kinsale Road Business Park.

SouthDoc is an out of hours family doctor service for urgent medical needs.

He said: “In January 2019, when Southdoc Blackpool was open, over 2,000 patients were seen in Blackpool. In January 2025, not one person was seen. Are we really to believe that no one on the northside requested an appointment in Blackpool in the entire month of January?

“In 2021, when SouthDoc tried to close their Blackpool facility, the HSE warned that this closure would lead to increased presentations to the emergency departments. In January 2019, 1,238 patients were treated on trolleys in Cork city hospitals. In January 2025, this figure rose to 2,070. That is a staggering 67% increase. The HSE were right in 2021 and their warnings still remain valid now. They fought Southdoc in 2021 but they seem to be happy to ignore its closure in 2025.”

He said various ministers for health and junior ministers have said repeatedly that SouthDoc Blackpool is open.

He added: “These figures show that this was not true and they have been caught out once again. The Government, the HSE and SouthDoc are gaslighting us when they tell us that Southdoc Blackpool is open. This isn’t true. It is time for them to admit that it is closed and to reopen Southdoc Blackpool. We now need a guarantee that Southdoc Blackpool will reopen.”

In a letter from Mari O’Donovan, Interim Head of Service - Primary Care, HSE South West, to Deputy Gould it said: “All city patients are processed through a single treatment centre address which is Cork city and appointments allocated in accordance with clinical need. This centralised approach aims to streamline the patient management process, ensuring efficient and timely access to necessary medical services.

“By consolidating the management process of the patients’ clinical needs, the Cork city centre can better allocate resources, adapting to the varying levels of clinical need among its diverse patient population. All patients are treated in accordance with clinical condition. Specifically in relation to Cork city patients, including Blackpool, 51% of patients are dealt with by a doctor within two hours, a further 22% within three hours, and 85% within four hours.

“This treatment level is well within the recommended guidelines as laid down by the Irish Congress General Practitioners and in line with the overall pattern of the organisation.”