On Wednesday, 11th December, 2024, a national conference to mark 30 years of Primary Health Care for Traveller Projects (PHCTPs), organised by the National Traveller Health Implementation Group in partnership with Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, took place at Croke Park, Dublin 1.
Primary Health Care was identified as an approach to facilitate Traveller participation in health and in 1994 the first Primary Health Care for Travellers project (PHTCP) was set up by Pavee Point. Traveller Primary Health Care sees Traveller Community Health Workers undertake health advocacy primarily through outreach work to improve health outcomes. Traveller workers have trust and rapport on the ground, as well as the institutional knowledge. The workers bridge the gap between services and the community.
The initial project was met with reticence from the Eastern Region Health Board, however, they eventually agreed to a nine-month pilot project, which was a resounding success. Now there are nearly 30 Primary Health Care for Traveller Projects operating across Ireland, with a strong Traveller workforce of circa 300 workers. The conference at Croke Park was a joyous occasion celebrating the work and achievements of the PHCTPs. It also highlighted some of the challenges and opportunities in ensuring sustainability into the future.
Speaking about the importance of PHCTPS, Concepta DeBrun, Regional Social Inclusion Specialist, HSE, said, “PHCTPs are pivotal to the delivery of health care services to the Traveller community. They hold a high trust relationship with the Traveller community and assist Travellers to enter the mainstream services.”
Aisling Heffernan, HSE; Concepta de Brun, HSE; Martina Queally, HSE, Missie Collins, Pavee Point Primary Health Care; Lynsey Kavanagh, Co Director, Pavee Point
“Some of the key achievements of the projects include higher numbers of Travellers accessing BreastCheck and cervical screening,” said Lynsey Kavanagh, Co-Director, Pavee Point, speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland in December. “86% of Travellers receive their health information from PHCTPs.”
Ms Kavanagh praised the success of the Traveller Primary Healthcare Projects around the country that are “flourishing” despite challenges throughout the 30 years.Traveller Primary Health Care Workers expressed that much more is required to sustain these projects going forward, including robust implementation and resourcing of the National Traveller Health Action Plan (NTHAP, 2022), better terms and conditions for workers, career progression and partnership between Traveller organisations and HSE.
“We need parity for PHC workers. Parity of esteem for the work we do and pay parity. No other workers within the health sector are able to do the work the projects do. We have the trust, the expertise and the institutional knowledge. At present, Traveller Health Workers earn minimum wage, on part time hours. This is not sustainable especially given the cost of living crisis.” said Bridget Nevin, PHC Coordinator, TravAct. “There is, at present, no pension scheme in place for these workers, some of whom have been working 30 years. This needs to change.”
“Workers must have the opportunity to progress in their careers and become coordinators, and managers, and to move into mainstream health services too. What’s more, we want to attract young people into the projects, and ensure they are given training.” said Mary Brigid Collins, PHC Co-ordinator, Pavee Point.
Brigid Quirke, HSE;Concepta de Brun, HSE; Brigid Quilligan, Kerry Travellers, Mary Brigid Collins, Pavee Point Primary Health Care