Pressure mounts to green light community hospital

POLITICAL pressure is mounting for a decision to give the go-ahead to a long-awaited, 72-bed community hospital in Dingle.

Delays with the project, which has been at number one on the regional health service priority list for eight years, are leading to frustration in the area.

Dingle Fine Gael councillor Seamus Mac Gearailt claimed the project was “lost in bureaucracy” and warned that planning permission, granted in July 2002, will lapse next year if work does not get under way.

But, with a general election not far away, there are hopes of a timely announcement that would enable work to start before voters go to the polls.

A Health Service Executive (HSE) spokesperson yesterday said the project is at pre-tender stage and is included in the HSE capital plan for 2006.

“The capital plan has been approved by the HSE Board and forwarded to the Tánaiste for consideration,” the spokesperson added.

There are also fears that a green field site, donated by the local O’Connor family for the e14 million hospital, could also be lost if construction does not start soon. Public meetings have been held in the town and politicians of all parties are being continually lobbied to get the green light for the project.

The hospital, which will replace a 43-bed hospital dating to the mid-19th century, had been expected to go to tender two years ago.

It will include a range of facilities for the elderly, including a day centre, a mental health centre, a GP’s consultation and treatment room and an ambulance base for the peninsula.

A population of around 9,000, of whom 18% are aged over 65, will be served by the hospital.

Meanwhile, a public meeting was held in Tralee last night to highlight the effects of MRSA on patients and their families.

A total of 537 patients were diagnosed with MRSA in Kerry General Hospital, Tralee, in 2004 and 180 were diagnosed while they were patients in the hospital.

A HSE spokesperson said a vigorous screening programme is in place in the hospital. High-risk patients are routinely screened on admission, as are patients being admitted from long-stay facilities.