Drumkeeran Health Centre is a small General Practice in the picturesque village of Drumkeeran, Co. Leitrim. Dr. Rosaleen Harkin ran the practice for many years. Upon her retirement, Dr. Aidan Mackey became the GP Principal. In September 2015, I applied for the vacant position and was successful in doing so. Dr. Cassie McVeigh joined the practice in 2019. Nurse Mairead Crawford is another valued member of the primary care team.

The practice is in a HSE building in the centre of the village. It has parking, including a disabled bay, and is wheelchair accessible. As well as a doctor we also have a nurse and a full-time secretary. Also on site are a public health nurse Siobhan Reynolds, a community psychiatric nurse, a dentist and a dietician.

It is a modern, well equipped practice. We offer a full range of medical services. It is fully computerised.

We serve a predominantly rural community. One of the advantages of a small General Practice is the ability to provide continuity of care. Insofar as possible, it is the same doctor seeing the patient each time. We believe that this is a distinct advantage as knowing the patient who has the disease is just as important as knowing the disease which the patient has.

Over the last year there have been a series of improvements made for the benefit of our patients. These include provision of a comprehensive chronic disease care program, provision of therapeutic venesection for haemochromatosis patients, expansion of women’s health services by adding a female GP, the introduction of a texting service, the commencement of telemedicine services, provision of a new water cooler and a up to date magazines in the waiting room and the provision of a disabled parking space. There are more improvements in the pipeline and further suggestions are always welcome.

Dr. Zachary Johnson