Government TDs welcome €55m health funding for Cork - Opposition TDs state the plan lacks vision

GOVERNMENT TDs have welcomed the announcement of over €55m in funding for Cork projects in the HSE Capital Plan 2023, while opposition representatives have said the plan lacks vision.

Fianna Fáil TD for Cork North Central Pádraig O’Sullivan welcomed the plan, saying that funding had been secured to progress the proposed elective hospital in Glanmire to design stage by the end of the third quarter of this year. He also welcomed the allocation of over €13.5m in funding for works at Cork University Hospital.

However, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central Thomas Gould said the HSE Capital Plan 2023 showed there was no real plan to resolve the crisis in healthcare in Cork city and county.

Mr O'Sullivan said that particularly welcome is the development of the new six-storey block at CUH to accommodate three floors of critical care beds, a total of 58 beds.

“There’s an allocation of €1.5m for the paediatric department phase two, inpatient bed provision including 74 beds, 50 children and 24 infant beds, between the Mercy and CUH, and the money for the helipad, €1.91m, is there,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Mr O’Sullivan welcomed the total allocation of €1.51m to the Mercy University Hospital, with €260,000 going to a new 30-bed ward.

He also welcomed the allocation of €7.4m in funding for the reconfiguration and extension of the Carraig Mór centre in Shanakiel, providing 18 single bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms.

Colm Burke, Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central, welcomed the plan, noting that it allowed for the finalisation of the 50-bed Blarney Community Nursing Unit, which he said should be completed by late 2023 or early 2024.

“Then there’s a whole lot of other projects in relation to community healthcare, like Kinsale, Kanturk, Macroom,” Mr Burke said.

“St Finbarr’s Hospital, for instance, there’s the replacement of 20 replacement single bedrooms, and then refurbishing 50 beds, so that’s very welcome as well.” 

Also welcoming the allocation of funding for the CUH paediatric unit, Mr Burke said that project needed now to be progressed.

Defending the Government’s record on health in Cork city, Mr Burke cited the roll-out of services on the northside of the city.

“In Cork North Central in the last two years, an extra 140 beds in real terms, between community care and hospital beds, have been provided in a very short time frame,” he said.

However, Sinn Féin TD for Cork North Central, Thomas Gould, said the HSE Capital Plan 2023 showed there was no real plan to resolve the crisis in healthcare in Cork city and county.

“There will be no major projects delivered in 2023, there is no plan to resolve issues with the Emergency Department in the Mercy Hospital, and there are no plans to progress vital primary care services in Blarney, Ballyvolane or Mayfield,” Mr Gould said.

“The reality is that our health service is on its knees."

Seán Sherlock, Labour Party TD for East Cork, said that regarding hospitals such as Mallow, where there is capital expenditure by the HSE at present, there needed to be a vision for a service that would ensure more capacity could be taken out of CUH and people could be treated locally within their own community.

“What I want to see within those 48 beds [allocated for Mallow] in the capital plan, is some capacity for rehabilitation services,” Mr Sherlock said.

“For example, Mallow is located in the heart of Munster but a lot of people have to go to Dún Laoghaire for services. If a certain number of beds were allocated and if the vision is right, a hospital like Mallow could provide such rehabilitation services.

“We could triage a lot of people away from CUH if the referral protocols were robust and fit for purpose,” he said.

“More and more people could be treated in hospitals like Mallow if the referral pathways were fit for purpose and that needs to be looked at as a matter of urgency.”