Primary Care services mean all of the health or social care services that you can find in your community, outside of the hospital setting. Primary Care includes GPs, Public Health Nurses and a range of other services provided through your Local Health Office.

Health Centres - find your public health nurse at your nearest health centre, along with Dental Services, Community Welfare and other services

GP Out of Hours Services - need a GP or family doctor outside of business hours?

Local Health Offices - access a range of services like physiotherapy, OT, child protection, aids and appliances etc

A Primary Care Team (PCT) is a team of health professionals who work closely together to meet the needs of the people living in the community.  They provide a single point of contact to the health system for the person.

These professionals include:

• GP and Practice Nurse
• Community Nursing Service – Public Health Nurse, Community Registered Nurse
• Occupational Therapist
• Physiotherapist
• Home Help/support staff

The Primary Care Team members also link with other community-based disciplines to ensure all health and social needs are provided for:  These include:

• Speech and Language Therapy
• Dieticians
• Mental Health Services
• Counsellor/Psychologist
• Podiatry
• Social work
• Dental
• Ophthalmic Services

It is proposed that there will be 518 Primary Care Teams in operation by 2011 each serving a population of approximately 8,000 to 12,000.

At the end of September 2011 there are 393 Primary Care Teams in place around the country. 

Click on the link on the right to see the list of Primary Care Teams

For contact information please contact your Local Health Office.

Click here for publications on Primary Care and Primary Care News, the monthly newsletter on Primary Care.