Agreement is reached on funding of 20-bed unit at CUH by Build4Life

Work is due to get underway on the construction of a long-awaited 20-bed inpatient respiratory ward at Cork University Hospital, funded by Munster-based cystic fibrosis (CF) charity Build4Life.

Building work should have been completed last year, had the project remained on track, but a row over the ringfencing of beds for CF patients delayed the transfer of €2.3m from the charity.

Build4Life had repeatedly sought a contract to protect its investment and to guarantee CF patients access to beds, but this was resisted by hospital management.