Plans for a new 60-bed community nursing unit in West Tipperary are still unclear despite years of talks.
That’s according to Sinn Féin TD Martin Browne who raised a parliamentary question about the planned community nursing unit at St. Patrick’s Hospital in Cashel.
A team was appointed to draw up designs for the new unit in 2019, but there has been no progress since.
Speaking to Tipp FM Deputy Browne said that the reply he got from the HSE raised some new concerns about the delays to the unit
“Another concern we got in the reply was that the HSE are continuously reviewing the options in the development of a new community nursing home unit – like where has this review suddenly come from? The review should have been done long before even a design team was put in place.
“That’s what we’re worried about, the HSE record in removing services from county Tipperary through stealth is long known.”
These community nursing home units in Tipp could also help to alleviate pressures on hospitals serving the county, Deputy Browne said.
He said that he was concerned with the reply from the HSE which referred to a 50-bed unit rather than the original planned 60 beds.
“There’s a massive backlog there and if we’re going to be serious about taking pressure off our major hospitals – UHL, Waterford and Clonmel itself, we need units like this that are proposed in St. Patrick’s.
“The reply now starts on about a 50-bed unit instead of the 60-bed. It looks – and I hope I’m wrong – but I hope it’s not them starting to reverse their decisions that they have given assurances on.”
