A Junior Minister at the Department of Health has played down the likelihood that much-needed development works at St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis could happen quicker than planned.
Jim Daly’s comments came as he visits Clare today, in part to open a new unit at another of the county’s nursing homes.
Clare FM’s Ben Sweeney reports:
The 1.7 million euro second phase of the Ennistymon Community Nursing Unit opens today and includes eight single en suite rooms for patients.
It’s in line with HIQA guidelines, and with the Future of Healthcare Committee’s report which pushes for a shift from hospital to community based healthcare.
Tomsie O’Sullivan is a member of Friends of Ennistymon Hospital group who fundraised hundreds of thousands of euro for the project.
He says the new development will bring comfort to those who require care.
Junior Minister at the Department of Health Jim Daly is in Clare today to open the Unit.
He’s also going to visit the Kilmaley Housing Project and is making a private visit to St Joseph’s Hospital in Ennis.
Earlier this year, health watchdog HIQA again outlined how St. Joseph’s does not comply with building regulations, and a subsequent court hearing between it and the HSE heard how residents are spending a large part of their day in their beds at the hospital’s two largest units because they have nowhere else to go.
An agreement was reached following that case which allows St. Joseph’s to continue to take in new admissions, and the HSE has promised to complete a programme of works by 2021.
Speaking to Clare FM’s Morning Focus today, Minister Daly said it would be hard to speed up works at the centre.
Meanwhile, the Minister has also that a decision on whether funding will be made available for a new 96-bed unit at University Hospital Limerick will be made by the end of the year.
The new unit is seen as key in reducing overcrowding in the hospital’s emergency department, which is the busiest in the country.
A decision on its future will be made in the context of the mid-term review of the government’s capital plan.
