A CORK TD has called for the opening of the Blarney Community Nursing Unit to be fast-tracked to ensure step-down beds are in place for people with additional care needs being discharged from hospital.

The former Blarney Golf and Leisure Resort was acquired by the HSE in 2021 to provide a 50-bed community nursing unit for older people in Cork city.

Last month, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare (CKCH) confirmed that the community nursing unit would become operational and staffed in Q4 2023, and that “workforce planning is well underway for this unit”.

Cork North Central TD and Fine Gael’s Spokesperson for Health, Colm Burke, called for the opening of the facility to be fast-tracked to free up hospital beds, and provide those who need additional care with a facility close to home.

“I’m extremely concerned in relation to CUH and the reason I raise it again is the issue in respect of getting people out of CUH,” Deputy Burke said during a recent sitting of the Joint Committee on Health.

“It now appears that the bed management team have a huge problem in trying to get step-down facilities for people who require full-time care but don’t need hospital care.”

He said there are families of people who require step-down facilities who are going “from facility to facility” looking for a place for their loved one, and that it is “not working”, with some asked to take a place in a nursing home as far away as Limerick.

In response to the Deputy, Chief Operations Officer of the HSE, Damien McCallion, commented: “Clearly people should have opportunities closer to home in terms of where they live out their lives in long-term care and I accept that.”

Speaking about the challenge in relation to step-down facilities in Cork, Mr McCallion said there is a constraint in terms of step-down capacity in the area, particularly around the city, which he said “is a challenge” but assured the Deputy that facilities such as the one in Blarney are “an absolute priority”.