Health Minister Simon Harris has confirmed funding to reopen the short stay ward at Letterkenny University Hospital.
After numerous campaigns from the public and local representatives, it has been confirmed that the 19 beds in the short-stay ward will reopen next year.
Minister Joe McHugh says he secured the commitment following a Cabinet meeting with the Minister for Health this week.
Minister McHugh said he was delighted to confirm that the short stay ward in LUH is to reopen.
He said: “I have pushed for this investment in the hospital in Letterkenny for a considerable period of time and we hope that this development will help to ease the pressure on beds in the hospital.
“I discussed this issue with Health Minister Simon Harris at Cabinet on Tuesday morning and we now have assurances that the 19 beds in the short-stay ward will reopen next year.”
The announcement comes as LUH Emergency Department faces high overcrowding levels. Forty-six patients are on trolleys awaiting admission today, according to the latest figures from INMO. LUH is the second most overcrowded hospital in Ireland this Wednesday.
Fifty-four people were on trolleys on Tuesday and 31 on Monday.
A petition with 5,689 signatures from the public was delivered to the Department of Health on Tuesday from Sinn Féin Deputy Pearse Doherty and Senator Pádraig MacLochlainn. The petition also called for the immediate reopening of the ward.
The reopening of the short stay ward, at a cost of €1.8million funding, is expected to alleviate pressure on the Emergency Department at LUH.
Minister McHugh added: “This decision comes on the back of my request to Minister Harris to review the need for the short stay ward in LUH.
“And in real terms, this means a need for more nurses at the hospital, and while recruitment is ongoing to secure permanent nursing staff the assurance of the ward reopening means that more jobs will be available in LUH.”
The Government Chief Whip added: “LUH has seen unprecedented levels of investment in recent years with the budget going from €93million in 2012 to €121million in 2017 and thanks to the increasing investment in the hospital we have more than 1,500 staff working there including the equivalent of almost 570 nursing staff working in 2017, compared to 506 back in 2013.”
