Mallow hospital gets €1.5m funding

PLANS to build a new medical assessment unit and an endoscopy unit at Mallow General Hospital have been copper fastened by the allocation of €1.5 million in funding for the project, according to Junior Minister Seán Sherlock.

The new units, for which a planning application has already been lodged, will mean an eventual end to the hospital’s 24-hour emergency department service, which was due to close last month.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) was forced to postpone the closure because alternative services, including a 12-hour urgent care centre, are not in place.

The health watchdog, the Health Information and Quality Authority, has warned hospitals should not lose services until alternative arrangements are in place.

Yesterday, Mr Sherlock said the funding represented the first real capital investment in the Mallow hospital in a quarter of a century and that it would secure its future.

“What it means in real terms is that Mallow will be able to carry out a lot more medical interventions because of the endoscopy unit. Taken together with plans to increase the amount of short-stay surgical procedures, the volume of work at [Mallow General Hospital] will ultimately increase,” Mr Sherlock said.

The Labour TD for Cork East said the HSE commitment to increase the number of physicians at the hospital from three to five will mean it has the capacity to deal with the work generated by the new units.

No dates have yet been set for recruitment to the new positions.

A decision on the application for the new endoscopy unit and medical assessment unit — a fast-track alternative to the emergency department for patients who require urgent medical assessment — is due in January.

The development is not expected to be completed until later in the year.

Mr Sherlock said he was delighted to have played a role in securing the funding, comprised of €1m from the HSE South budget and a further €500,000 under the HSE’s capital spend for 2012.

Under the reconfiguration of hospital services in the HSE South, Mallow’s cancer services have already transferred to Cork University Hospital, as has its ambulance bypass protocols for critically ill patients.

Its ear, nose and throat paediatric inpatient and day-case admissions have moved to the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital.

Cork University Hospital’s emergency department is also expected to pick up the slack when the Mallow unit closes.