Lynch ‘disappointed’ over delay in CUH ward opening

Junior Health Minister Kathleen Lynch said she was “disappointed” with the delayed opening of a new €2.3m respiratory ward at Cork University Hospital funded by charity but said the hospital was struggling to fill 40 nursing posts.

She raised the delay with the HSE yesterday after Joe Browne, founder of the Cystic Fibrosis charity (CF) Build4Life, aired his frustration in an article in the Irish Examiner.

Ms Lynch said she was told the hospital has 40 nursing vacancies and was now entering a second phase of recruitment in an effort to fill the posts.