New neurology unit for Cork and Kerry patients delayed until next year due to budget constraints

It comes just months after the HSE said it hoped to have all 50 beds in the Blarney unit open by the end of this year

The recently-opened Mercy Regional Rehabilitation Unit near Blarney has some beds already open but not for those patients in need of specialist neurological supports.

A neuro-rehabilitation unit expected to open for Cork and Kerry patients by the end of this year has been put back to next year’s HSE plan due to budget constraints.

HSE Southwest said the 20 in-patient beds were to be in the recently-opened Mercy Regional Rehabilitation Unit near Blarney. 

This unit has some beds already open but not for those patients in need of specialist neurological supports.

This comes just months after the HSE said it hoped to have all 50 beds in the unit open by the end of this year.

It had said in late May: “Recruitment is ongoing and is in no way affected or delayed by the region’s Tier 3 status.” 

However, now it said ongoing budgetary issues were having a direct impact on patients in need of the specialist care.

The region is under Tier 3 restrictions put in place by the national HSE chief executive earlier this year. 

“Given the demands on the HSE South-West budget for the remainder of this year, the development of the 20 neurorehabilitation beds will now need to be prioritised in the HSE National Service Plan 2027,” a spokeswoman said on Monday.

She noted the original plans had not been funded in this year’s national service plan.

Recruitment has not begun and she said only: “Work with the people resourcing unit for this plan is currently being developed.” 

Fine Gael TD Colm Burke had called for a definitive timeline for the beds to open in the former Blarney golf resort. 

“The development of the Blarney facility is extremely welcome,” he said.

“The priority now must be to ensure that its full 50 bed capacity, including the specialist neurorehabilitation service, is delivered as soon as possible.” 

He had called in particular for recruitment, saying: “Without the staff, this vital service cannot commence.” 

The news follows a renewed focus on staffing numbers, recruitment and budgets at Cork University Hospital, the largest hospital in the HSE South-West region.

CUH chief executive Jennifer Kearney asked in a recent letter to HSE South-West for the approval of a minimum of 172 priority posts ahead of winter, a fraction of the more than 1,050 staff she said the hospital was down.

However, on Monday the HSE insisted there was no embargo to hiring at CUH. It said a new recruitment oversight process had been put in place due to what it described as “significant overruns”.

A spokeswoman said it was working to deliver pledges from this year’s service plan while “remaining within approved budget allocations”.

She said CUH was running at the equivalent of 258.67 whole-time staff above its approved workforce limit.

When asked if this meant the HSE would like to see staff reductions in the hospital, the spokeswoman said “recruitment of approved funded posts under the HSE's National Service Plan (NSP) will continue at CUH”.

She added: “There is no embargo in the recruitment of approved funded NSP posts in CUH. 

"There is, however, a newly introduced sequencing process to manage the significant overruns that have occurred in CUH and across the service.”