Hospital co-location plan at risk of demise

THE future of the Government’s controversial plan for co-located hospitals is in serious doubt after yet another contractual deadline was missed and opposition parties said they would bin the project if returned to government.

The plan, trumpeted by Health Minister Mary Harney as the quickest way to provide an additional 1,000 beds in the public hospital system, has been beset by problems and is already five-and-a-half years in the pipeline.

With a change of administration looking increasingly likely and the expiry date on the contracts extended, the project faces the prospect of being killed off by the next government.