A major demonstration has taken place in Nenagh, Co Tipperary by people who have been angered by the decision of the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health to use a new 50 bed community nursing home as a temporary stepdown facility to alleviate the overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).
The new unit had been intended as a replacement long-term care facility for residents of St Conlon's nursing home in the town, which the Health Investigation and Quality Authority (HIQA) has deemed not fit for purpose for the just over 20 residents who live there.
Residents and their families had anticipated they would be moved to the new facility shortly, until a decision in recent months by the HSE to use the beds at the facility to alleviate the significant congestion problems at the regions only acute hospital UHL.
The HSE and the Department of Health said it was decided to use the new Nenagh community nursing unit building as a step-down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility on an interim and temporary basis, to be run by a private operator, until the new unit can be fully staffed.
This will ensure maximum use of all available bed capacity across the region, for a period of 12 months when it will be reviewed, the HSE said.
However, the decision has caused widespread anger and dismay in the town, who say the elderly and vulnerable residents of St Conlon's were looking forward to and had expected to be housed in the new nursing home very quickly.
Thousands of people marched through the town this afternoon from St Conlon's community nursing home to the new facility located beside Nenagh Hospital to demonstrate the strength of feeling about the decision and to call on Minister for Health Stephan Donnelly and the HSE to reverse it and to allow the facility to proceed to open for its intended purpose rather than be used over the next year to relieve the overcrowding at UHL.
Anna Tracey, who is a SIPTU shop steward and one of the organisers, said the staff and residents were looking forward to moving to the new unit, as well as the 40 or so others who are also on a waiting list for nursing home care.
Ms Tracey said: "This demonstration shows how strongly people feel about the decision to take away this new state of the art community nursing facility, which residents and other vulnerable elderly people so badly need and who have waited over 13 years for.
"We all feel it's just so unfair."
Families of residents also marched with their loved ones, many in wheelchairs, to express their disappointment at the decision.
They say many sick people, who had expected to move, will have to remain now in an outdated and cramped facility for at least another year.
The march was also joined by members of the Mid West hospital campaign group which has been advocating for years to re-open the emergency department's at Nenagh and Ennis hospitals and at St John's Hospital in Co Limerick, which closed in 2009 as part of a re-configuration of acute services.
A representative of the group said this decision once again demonstrates how the habitual overcrowded conditions continue to impact people of the region, with a new nursing home facility designed to house older citizens, now being used for the next 12 months as a step-down facility, denying older people a new facility which they deserve.
The Department of Health insists the decision is a temporary one and that it is intended that the arrangement will be reviewed in a year.
It added that the HSE is progressing plans to recruit the 60 staff needed for the new unit and that the current community nursing unit at St Conlon's will continue to provide care to its residents during that interim period.
Outlining its decision the Department of Health said: "To alleviate the significant pressures at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), a decision has been made to utilise the new Nenagh Community Nursing Unit (CNU) building, on an interim basis, as a step down sub-acute and rehabilitation facility which will be run by a private provider with expertise in such services.
"A procurement process is underway.
"The facility will be a collaborative partnership with the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the successful provider.
"The intended interim repurposing of the facility is to ensure maximum use of all available bed capacity across the region."
The statement added that the interim use of the building "will greatly support the region pending the completion of the first of two new 96-bed blocks for UHL, scheduled to be completed in mid-2025".
It said the current community nursing unit at St Conlon’s "will continue to provide care to its residents" during this interim period.
"There is ongoing engagement between the HSE and residents in St Conlon’s CNU and their families to address queries that are raised directly with the local community services for older people team," it said.
"There have also been several engagements with staff in St. Conlon’s, with a further meeting with staff planned for 20 May," it added.
The HSE said it is committed to engagement with unions, adding that it has met with representatives on three occasions, with a further meeting scheduled next week.
