Number of new beds to be delivered at Cork hospitals 'won't make a dent' in trolley figures, says Cork TD

Fifty-two new hospital beds and 105 community nursing unit beds are to be delivered in Cork, according to the HSE’s 2025 National Service Plan, but a Cork TD says these “simply won’t cut it”.

The plan shows that a total of 297 acute (hospital) beds and 615 community (older person’s) beds are to be delivered nationally in 2025.

This includes 18 beds in Cork University Hospital, 24 in Mallow General Hospital and 10 in the Mercy, as well as 105 beds in a community nursing unit at St Finbarr’s Hospital.

This is half the amount of beds expected to be delivered in CUH in 2025, with announcements from Fine Gael TD Colm Burke and now TD John Paul O’Shea after the last budget saying that Cork University Hospital was to get 36 additional beds, as well as the 24 beds in Mallow, 10 in the Mercy and 105 in St Finbarr’s.

The beds make up part of the 80 beds to be delivered in CUH between 2025 and 2028, as well as 82 in the Mercy and 24 in Mallow, according to the Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan 2024–2031 published last year.

Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire told The Echo: “Our hospitals have never been under more pressure, we have record numbers on trolleys, and we urgently need to invest in hospital beds.

“So just 18 additional beds for the CUH in the service plan is simply not going to cut it.

“This is half of what was announced in the budget, and is clearly not going to make a dent in the numbers who end up on trolleys.

“Patients on trolleys is obviously very bad for patients and is not a dignified form of care, but despite the best efforts of the very dedicated staff, clearly it is going to have an impact on outcomes.”

He added: “The delivery of the community nursing unit in St Finbarr’s is long overdue, it will be welcome. 

“We need much more like it, as we have seen a reduction in community and step down beds in recent years, and investing in community care is a key part of reducing pressure in our hospitals.

“But in the here and now, CUH is in an absolute crisis situation, record numbers on trolleys, record waiting lists, it simply won’t be enough to just deliver the 18 extra beds.”