CO CLARE has been overlooked again with a new hospital to be built in Limerick to ease the burden on University hospital Limerick (UHL).
On the same day that the first new acute hospital to open in Ireland was officially opened in Limerick, politicians revealed that Raheen would be the location for a new hospital to ease the burden on UHL as Option B of the HIQA report in emergency healthcare in the region.
Once again Co Clare has lost out when it comes to the provision of health services.
Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG) has given the green light for the HSE to acquire 43 acres of land at Raheen, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Patrick O’Donovan (FG) has confirmed.
Raheen’s site is Option B as indicated in the HIQA report which is an extension of the UHL campus, serving as the second site in close proximity working under a shared governance and operating model.
Speaking on Monday at the opening of the €213m Bon Secours Limerick Hospital, Minister O’Donovan commented, “I’ve had a very good conversation with the Minister for Health who has really been driving the modernization, change, reform, and investment into University Hospital Limerick. She has confirmed to me that she has given consent for the acquisition of 43 acres for the HSE for an additional hospital campus at Raheen”.
Health Minister Carroll MacNeill is expected in Limerick on Tuesday to make an official announcement on the Raheen site.
Anger has been expressed by health activists. Friends of Ennis Hospital in a statement to The Clare Echo said the decision once again highlights how the healthcare needs of the people of Clare continue to be overlooked in regional planning and that Raheen “offers little or no benefit to the 130,000 people living in County Clare, many of whom already face some of the longest journeys in the country to access emergency care”.
“Patients from large parts of Clare must already travel across the county and through Limerick city to reach University Hospital Limerick. Locating a new development in Raheen will do nothing to improve access for many patients,” Chairperson of FEH, Angela Coll stated.
She added, “This decision is hugely disappointing and frankly very frustrating for the people of Clare. For many communities across the county this announcement changes absolutely nothing. People in Clare should not have to cross an entire county and a city to access emergency care.”
“Centralising services further away from Clare may suit administrators, but it does nothing for patients. With this announcement, the case for an acute hospital in Clare only grows stronger,” Angela continued.
