DESPITE assurances from local Fine Gael politicians, there is still no official confirmation of government funding for the new 60-bed unit at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
As criticism rained down on Health Minister Simon Harris, the UL Hospitals Group said the date of opening for the unit can only be realistically predicted when that funding is made definite.
Limerick Labour Party TD Jan O’ Sullivan described the delay in allocating funding for the 60 bed modular unit in UHL as “a betrayal of the people of the Mid West.
“It is quite clear that despite repeated assurances on the issue, the capital plan has still not been signed off and this will lead to delays.
“The government has not been up front about this and it is completely unacceptable that patients and staff will have to go through another winter in an overcrowded hospital.
“This is why I have been trying to get concrete assurances from the Minister that the modular unit would be built this year. It is clear now that they are not going to deliver it within the timeframe originally planned.”
Social Democrats local election candidate for Limerick City East Sarah Jane Hennelly is also critical of the delay.
“People are raging at this news. Over 11,000 patients were treated on trolleys in UHL last year, the highest figure in the country for the third year in a row. It was promised time and again by Minister Harris and his party colleagues in Limerick that this unit would be delivered as a matter of urgency. The public have been deliberately misled on this.”
In a statement, the UHL group said that a planning application for the project was lodged last June and permission was granted in October.
“The objective has been to have the new beds available at the earliest opportunity subject to allocation of funding to deliver the project. The tendering process was completed by September 2018 and it was hoped at that time, subject to funding provision, that the works could be completed by the end of 2019.
“UL Hospitals Group understands that the draft HSE Capital Plan is due to be submitted to the Department of Health shortly. It will then be subject to the approval of the Minister for Health and the sanction of the Minister for Finance.
“Should funding for the project be formally approved in the coming weeks, it is anticipated that the works would be completed by mid 2020.”
