Lack of funding delays opening of rehab beds in former Blarney hotel

A 20-bed neurorehabilitation unit for Cork and Kerry patients, which has already been delayed until next year, will only open if HSE funding is available, the Taoiseach has said.

Last December, the HSE announced that the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) would this year open a 50-bed rehabilitation and neurological facility at the former Blarney Hotel and Golf Resort.

The facility, it said, would consist of 30 beds offering in-patient rehabilitation services after illness, injury, or surgery, and 20 beds allocated for neuro-surgical patients with newly acquired complex disability after neurological injury.

A total of 24 of the 30 in-patient rehabilitation beds are currently in use, with patients transferred from MUH’s city-centre facility, and the remaining six beds expected to be occupied by the end of October.

In May the HSE said it hoped to have all 50 beds in use by the end of this year.

However, in August the executive said ongoing budgetary issues were having a direct impact on patients in need of specialist neurorehabilitation care.

“Given the demands on the HSE South West budget for the remainder of this year, the development of the 20 neurorehabilitation beds will now need to be prioritised in the HSE National Service Plan 2027,” a spokesperson said.

Recently in the Dáil, Cork TD Colm Burke asked Taoiseach Micheál Martin if there would be a commitment to provide funding for those 20 beds in 2027.

Responding, Mr Martin said the HSE South West had confirmed that a regional strategic rehabilitation group was reviewing the provision of rehabilitation services across the region.

“The aim is that following on from the National Service Plan 2027 that the HSE South West will deliver 20 neurorehabilitation beds at Level 2 in 2027, pending funding,” the Taoiseach said.

Mr Burke told the The Echo that he would be pressing for that funding to be made available.

“It is important that these beds are brought into use and the necessary staff employed,” he said. “By opening these beds there will be a net saving for the HSE as it would free up neurorehabilitation beds in the hospital in a faster time frame and there would be more efficient use of hospital facilities.

“It would also provide a more comprehensive care for patients in a far faster time period.”

The former Blarney Hotel and Golf Resort, developed in 2004 as part of a €25m golf resort, was acquired in 2021 by the HSE for around €3m. The hotel and the leisure and gym complex closed in January 2020, while the holiday homes, golf course and clubhouse, which are privately owned, remain in use to this day.