Epilepsy unit at CUH idle for year despite waiting list

A €500,000 specialist unit for monitoring seizures in people with poorly-controlled epilepsy has lain idle for a year while more than 100 patients in vital need of assessment remain on a waiting list.

The epilepsy monitoring unit (EMU) at Cork University Hospital (CUH) failed to open in 2013, despite a commitment from the HSE that it would open in the third quarter.

The HSE conceded yesterday that the unit will not now open until 2014.