Clare's Junior Minister has hit out at the decision by ShannonDoc to scale back services in East and West Clare.
The out-of-hours GP service is blaming a decline in doctor numbers for the controversial decision to cutback on services in its clinics in Kilrush, Ennistymon and Killaloe.
Pat Breen says there was no attempt by Shannondoc management to make contact with him this week, prior to the decision being made.
Minister of State Breen is urging ShannonDoc to hold off on changes, which are due to come into effect within the next month, until after negotiations on GP contracts in November.
Meanwhile, the HSE says changes within ShannonDoc will be monitored closely over the coming 12 months.
It's CHO Area 3 Chief Officer has re-iterated that changes to the services have not arisen out of a funding issue, saying 4.7 million euro has been allocated towards the out-of-hours GP service for 2016.
Bernard Gloster insists that if the current arrangement isn't working, it will be re-visited.
