Minister must commit to a Model 3 Hospital in the Midwest
Minister must commit to a Model 3 Hospital in the Midwest - The Labour Party
Labour TD for Limerick City Conor Sheehan has called out the Minister for Health for failing to have a vision for healthcare in the Mid West.
Ahead of plans being brought to Cabinet to progress Option A and Option B for the Midwest, Deputy Sheehan said there is nothing new in the Minister’s proposals or the HIQA review into healthcare in the region.
Deputy Sheehan said:
“The Minister for Health has confirmed that she will bring a memo to Cabinet regarding Option A and Option B for the future of the health service in the Mid West, yet there is nothing new in this proposal.
“There is no urgency and no attempt to expedite the process despite the clear and pressing need for greater provision of services in the Mid West. It beggars belief that there is such a dearth of vision for healthcare in the region. Even the HIQA review was a charade.
“Option A involves the provision of additional beds and an external 96 bed unit at the Dooradoyle Campus. However, this 96 bed unit is already due to open at the end of 2029. Option B involves a suite near or adjacent to UHL.
“Option B appears to be the favoured option of both the Government and the HSE and we know that a site has already been identified for the project. This plan involves moving University Maternity Hospital Limerick from its current site on the Ennis Road. This is something that has been planned for over a decade and desperately needs to happen.
“Things need to happen much quicker than 2029 to avoid repeats of the horrific tragedies we have seen in UHL in the past. We know that the current UHL campus is now nearly at capacity. We need to see action, not political playing.
“People in Limerick saw a private hospital being built in Ballysimon in 18 months. Where is the urgency from the State to deliver public healthcare?
“The memo coming before Cabinet suggests that Government proceed with Option A and Option B. In doing so, the Minister is failing to bring anything new to a region that has been failed by the provision of healthcare.
“The fact that we do not even have political consensus on where a new Model 3 hospital should be located, or a long term vision for healthcare in the midwest, means that a Model 3 hospital and a second emergency department are not realistically on the cards within the next decade or so.
“Right now, we have a situation where TDs in the same political party are arguing that a Model 3 hospital should be located in their own individual area for their own political gain. It’s crazy. There is no consensus around the future of healthcare in the Mid West.
“I would like to commend the Minister for the work she has done in implementing the recommendations of the HIQA review quickly and the work she has done with Minister Jack Chambers around new infrastructure guidelines, but the fact of the matter is we still do not have a coherent long term vision for healthcare in the midwest.
“It’s immaterial to me if the Model 3 hospital is located in Limerick, Clare or Tipperary, I just believe it needs to be done.
“But I do also believe that without a realistic pathway and timeline for the delivery of a Model 3 hospital in the Mid West that we will not be able to properly and comprehensively deal with the capacity issues at UHL.”