'End of life room is a vital necessity': 

A well-known former Cork GP has appealed to the people of Cork to help raise funds for a new end-of-life room for older people at Cork University Hospital (CUH). 

Dr Con Murphy said that the end-of-life period is one which is very important to people. 

He said that a room is available at the hospital for use at this time, and he now wants to raise funds to refurbish this.

“We want to improve the wards for the elderly and one important target is an end of life room for people who need privacy with their family when they are about to pass away,” he explained.

“The end of life room is a vital necessity and the Covid crisis brought that home to people I think.”

The Cork man, who is well-known for his involvement with Cork GAA, visited the geriatric ward at the hospital in recent days and said that improvements are also needed to the ward more generally.

He is also hoping to raise funds for the refurbishment of a room where people can socialise in a more homely setting.

“We also want to do up a room for people to be able to socialise and sit down and chat to each other, especially for someone in the hospital who was uneasy and could have somewhere quiet to go and sit down,” he added.

The Cork man said that improvements to the geriatric ward would impact a significant amount of people.

“As I tell my friends if the Lord spares us, this is where we are all heading for.” 

In recent weeks, Dr Murphy launched a 60-day challenge fundraising campaign to help raise money for the Cork University Hospital Charity for improvements to facilities for older people at the hospital.

Over the course of the challenge, he intends to walk 150km and to lose a stone in weight.

The campaign has already raised more than €90,000 and Dr Murphy hopes to raise even more funds which can go toward improvements at the ward for older people at CUH.

“I’m enjoying it.” he said, adding that despite the recent inclement weather for May he is “driving on” and walking daily with friends as well as some well-known personalities. 

For more information on the campaign or to donate click here.