The Vhi SwiftCare clinic has lived up to its aim of treating patients within an hour 95 per cent of the time since the private clinic opened its doors four weeks ago. Ali Bracken reports.
At 9pm last Friday night all was quiet in Ireland's first walk-in urgent care facility. Just one patient, a boy who had fractured his finger playing rugby, was being attended to at the Vhi SwiftCare clinic in Dundrum, Dublin.
The private clinic provides treatment for unexpected injuries such as sprains, bumps, potential breaks, minor burns and cuts that may need stitching.
It was established to complement A&E departments by offering people with relatively minor injuries a private alternative to hospital care.
There is no confusing it with an A&E department - paintings hang on the walls; background music plays; and newspapers are provided in the waiting room. The clinic aims to have patients "in and out within an hour".
This is something it has lived up to 95 per cent of the time since opening four weeks ago, says Dr Ray Power, one of the founders of The Well, a primary care medical company, which established SwiftCare in conjunction with the Vhi.
The clinic has proved more popular than its founders anticipated and it has already hired additional medical staff.
It seems there is a wealth of people who would rather pay €85 for immediate treatment at the clinic than wait several hours in an A&E hospital department.
"It's very quick, very efficient and I'm delighted with the service. Over the years, I've had numerous trips and spent many hours in A&E departments and now it's great to have this choice," says Celine McCormack from Goatstown, whose son, 16-year-old son Colm, has twice received treatment at the clinic for a fractured finger.
McCormack brought Colm to the clinic two weeks ago and a splint was applied to his injured finger.
She was particularly impressed by the follow-up phone call from the doctor who treated Colm the next day and he told her to get in touch if his injury was still painful two weeks later.
As the injury was still niggling, she brought Colm back to the clinic on Friday and he had a cast applied.
"I really like it," says Colm, "I've had to sit in St Vincent's for ages before but both times I've been here it's been really quick."
A consultation at the clinic costs €85 or €45 if a patient is referred by their GP, irrespective of whether they have a medical card.
A follow-up consultation is charged at the lower rate, and McCormack was charged €45 for her son's second consultation.
There are additional charges for X-rays, blood tests, stitching, plastering and physiotherapy. It is also policy for each patient to receive a follow-up phone call and a letter to their GP outlining the injury.
An A&E hospital consultation is generally free for medical card holders or costs about €60 otherwise inclusive of any additional service such as plastering or X-rays.
Vhi SwiftCare has been harshly criticised by various sections of the medical profession. The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) has said its private policy excludes medical card holders and people on lower incomes.
In response, Dr Power says he would welcome an initiative with the Health Service Executive (HSE) so the clinic could facilitate medical card holders, but at the moment, as a private enterprise, "we cannot treat patients for free".
On weekdays, some 30 patients pass through the clinic and this number reaches 50 at weekends.
Five doctors work at the clinic, including medical director Alan Forrester, a consultant in emergency medicine. The other doctors have worked as GPs and have "a breadth of experience", according to Dr Forrester.
He has prepared a protocol book so that whenever he is not there, guidelines for medical procedures are clearly set out.
Soon, the clinic plans to take on two more doctors part-time and another full-time nurse, bringing the number of nurses to six.
If the number of patients presenting at the clinic doubled overnight, Dr Forrester said the clinic's resources would just be able to cope.
The clinic holds five treatment bays, a fracture clinic, a soft tissue clinic, a procedure room, a suturing room and a dark room for eye examinations.
A Vhi SwiftCare facility on Dublin's northside will open in early 2006 and its location is currently being finalised.
Depending on its success and the continued popularity of the Dundrum facility, more may then be established around the State.
At the moment, patients have predominantly come from Dublin's southside "but one woman recently travelled from Enniscorthy", says Dr Power.
The clinic is open to all paying customers, not just Vhi customers. People attending the clinic with health insurance can claim on outpatient benefits. About 2 per cent of people who have presented at the clinic had to be transferred to hospital and another 2 per cent could have been seen by their GP, says Dr Power.
The clinic has a protocol and ambulance bay to facilitate patients' transfer to hospital.
Unlike hospital A&E departments that are particularly busy at weekend nights with alcohol-related injuries, Dr Power says its busiest times are 11am and 7pm.
The clinic opens at 8am and closes its doors at 10pm, another fact that has received criticism from sections of the medical profession. In response, Dr Forrester says: "Well, we are a private clinic. We are not a hospital."