New-build nursing home in East Cork ‘likely’ to be handed to HSE within weeks
The HSE said residents will move over on a phased basis, but only after Hiqa registration is granted.
A new-build nursing home in East Cork is “likely” to be handed over to the HSE within weeks, two years after it was mooted.
The Midleton community nursing unit is part of a group of seven around the country built under a €250m public-private partnership (PPP), but none are open yet. Only two others, aside from this unit, are understood to be with the HSE so far.
The PPP is between the HSE and a joint venture company comprising John Sisk & Sons with Equitix.
It will deliver 530 beds across Killarney, Midleton, Cork City, and Clonmel, as well as Thomastown, Athlone, and Ardee.
Frustration has been growing across all counties involved because although the buildings appear complete, only Athlone and Ardee were handed to the HSE by Christmas.
The visited the Midleton site on Saturday. It shares the grounds of the Midleton Community Hospital.
The locked building was surrounded by wire fencing and hoardings, but furniture could be seen through some of the large windows.
A spokeswoman for HSE South West said: “The handover of the new Midleton community nursing unit to the HSE is likely to take place in the coming weeks.”
Staff can then start equipping, commissioning, and stocking the unit. It will have 50 beds in groups of 25-bed households.
Each new nursing home must be registered with health watchdog Hiqa.
HSE staff are working on the Midleton application for Hiqa and plan to submit this “as quickly as possible” after the handover.
The modern unit will take in elderly residents currently living in the nearby community hospital. This was built as a workhouse in 1841, with a hospital wing added in 1937.
The HSE said residents will move over on a phased basis, but only after Hiqa registration is granted.
Staffing also needs to be in place first. It has started workforce planning and talks with staff.
“Residents, families, and the wider community will be kept updated,” said the spokesperson.
The other Cork home is in the grounds of St Finbarr’s Hospital in the city.
This will have 105 beds, including 30 for residents with dementia. These beds will be grouped in three 10-bed households in an innovative approach to supporting people with the disease.
The Killarney nursing home has 130 beds, including three 10-bed households for residents with dementia.
Photographs of the unit, taken by Radio Kerry and shared with this newspaper during previous reporting on the delays, also show furniture such as beds in place.
Construction at Clonmel is expected to finish by March and open for residents by June, HSE Dublin and South East said.
The deal was backed with €250m from the European Investment Bank, Bank of Ireland, and NORD/LB.
The HSE will lease the homes from the company for an annual payment of €24m over 25 years — totalling €600m.
A spokeswoman for Equitix has said it had “no comment to make”.
A spokesman for John Sisk & Sons also previously said it was not commenting.
The Economic and Social Research Institute has projected that between 19,505 and 24,975 additional long-stay nursing home beds are needed nationally by 2040.
This is in addition to up to 3,287 short-stay beds.
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