A new provider has been secured for the out of hours GP service in Longford.
It's been confirmed that Caredoc will take over the operations of the former Longford MIDOC based in St Joseph's from today.
MIDOC ceased trading on December 31st last following financial challenges.
The HSE has been on the hunt for a new service provider for a number of months
Longford-Westmeath TD, Joe Flaherty has welcomed the news of the new provider but says communication surrounding the move could have been better.
"It's good that we have confirmation that the service is secure. It was unfortunate that the HSE staff weren't appraised of what was happening. This has been ongoing since last April and I appreciate negotiations were taking place but suddenly it happened very quickly and it was regrettable that staff got phone calls from line managers late on Friday to update them on the situation. We would have expected better in that regard but the main thing is, the service is secured".