Charity to hand over €2.3m as CUH cystic fibrosis row ends

A row over the ring-fencing of beds for cystic fibrosis patients at a Cork hospital has been resolved, paving the way for the handover of €2.3m to fund a respiratory ward.

Under an agreement between the HSE and CF charity Build4Life, four beds on the new adult ward at Cork University Hospital will be ring-fenced for CF patients. While this falls short of the 10 protected beds Build4Life had sought — and which the hospital had originally mooted — the charity secured enough additional concessions to make a deal possible.

The final accord — brought about following the intervention of junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch — represents a significant advance on the “priority access” that the hospital had pushed for.

This would have given CF patients first call on beds in the new ward, but none would have been specifically ring-fenced. In addition to the four protected beds, the deal ensures:

nThere will always be one additional CF bed on standby for emergency CF admissions.

nUp to 10 CF beds will be made available to CF patients if required under an emergency bed policy.

Crucially, if the hospital does not provide sufficient beds to meet demand on more than two occasions, it will be required to double the number of ring-fenced beds from four to eight.

Build4Life founder Joe Browne said this “three strikes and you’re out” approach was essential to ensure the hospital adhered to its side of the bargain and that the charity’s investment was protected.

Under the agreement, the HSE will be obliged to collect data on bed supply and demand and provide it monthly to Build4Life. Mr Browne said this was to avoid the kind of situation that occurred previously at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, where supposedly ring-fenced CF beds ended up being used for other patients.

Build4Life also secured significant concessions in relation to addressing the staffing shortfall in the CF paediatric unit, namely a full-time nurse and half- time physiotherapist in- house, and access to a half- time psychology service on an out-patient basis.

On concerns that the adult CF out-patient clinic would have to be knocked when planning permission expires next year, the HSE said it will not be disposed of unless an alternative CF outpatient clinic facility “of equal or higher specification” is in place.

Yesterday Mr Browne said: “We are happy with the outcome, we’ve got a lot out of the agreement.”

A commitment to provide an additional three single in-patient rooms for CF patients over time was also secured.