HSE insists three new nursing homes in Cork and Kerry will open this year after two-year delay

A nursing home on the grounds of St Finbarr’s hospital in Cork City is still with the builders and the timeline for the handover remains the end of March. 

The HSE South West has insisted three new nursing homes for Cork and Killarney will open this year, saying it will soon apply to register the Killarney facility. 

The three nursing homes — Midleton, St Finbarr's in Cork City, and Killarney — are part of a group of seven around the country that were initially expected to have been completed in 2024.

The delayed Midleton unit was to be handed over by the builders in January but this is now expected in “early February”, a HSE spokeswoman said.

A second new unit, built on the grounds of St Finbarr’s hospital in Cork City, is also still with the builders and the timeline for the handover remains the end of March. 

The new Killarney unit was handed over in December and Hiqa registration is imminent.  

The three nursing homes were built by a venture company consisting of John Sisk & Sons with Equitix, known as Equisisk, in a €250m public private partnership with the HSE.

“HSE South West is looking forward to opening three new community nursing units across Cork and Kerry this year,” the HSE spokeswoman said.

She said the facilities would see “a significant step forward in delivering high-quality care and services” locally.

Every effort is being made to open the buildings as soon as possible, and we are pleased that significant progress has been made in recent weeks.

Staff are still equipping the Killarney and Midleton buildings.  

“Workforce planning and engagement with staff is ongoing at all sites,” the spokesperson added.

Residents of some older nursing homes will likely move to the new facilities when ready.

The current Killarney Community Hospital was criticised by the health watchdog Hiqa recently, after inspectors found mould growing in the dementia unit, among other problems.

“We will shortly submit our final application for the registration of Killarney community nursing unit to Hiqa,” the HSE spokeswoman said.

Only after this can a date for transfer of residents be confirmed.

Last week Social Democrats TD Pádraig Rice added his frustrations to growing local concerns at the delays.

“These projects were to be completed by 2024,” he said. 

In my own constituency, the HSE is saying that it could be Christmas by the time St Finbarr’s is open, two years behind target. That is simply not good enough.

Numerous local councillors have raised questions over the last few months about the delays.

However, the Government’s public-private partnership (PPP) unit referred questions on the delays back to the HSE.

The central public-private partnership policy unit said it did not have responsibility for individual projects.

The unit sits within the Department of Public Expenditure.

A spokesman said in this case the HSE was the sponsoring agency for the projects. 

This means “procurement and delivery of the PPP community nursing units project rests with the HSE”.