One million euro in funding has been provided for an extension of the Emergency Department at South Tipperary General Hospital.
The money is to go towards an immediate modular unit expansion at the Clonmel facility to cater for additional winter demand due to Covid-19.
Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill says he’s delighted with the move after working with junior health minister Mary Butler on the issue.
Deputy Cahill says this additional capacity will provide more comfort for patients in the coming months:
“The A&E, due to the COVID restrictions, hadn’t the capacity to deal with the amount of patients they had. As we go into the bad weather that’s coming in the next couple of months, we were going to have a situation where people were going to have to wait outdoors to get into an A&E.
“This was going to be a completely intollerable situation. So, we’ve secured €1million in funding which is going to allow a modular unit to be built, which will allow an extension for the A&E and will give it a capacity that everyone at least will be under cover and in comfort while they’re waiting to get admitted.”
Deputy Cahill is also calling for the reinstatement of the ED at Nenagh General Hospital in the coming months.
He was asked by Tipp FM News whether or not he thinks this is a genuinely realistic prospect:
“Well look, we managed to get the million for Clonmel in a very rapid timeframe. I will be lobbying hard and pressing Minister Donnelly for this common-sense approach.
“University Hospital Limerick, in a non-COVID winter, was under huge pressure. The challenges faced this year are going to be immense so I will be looking for the resources to be put into Nenagh so we can have that 24/7 A&E there.”
