Laois Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley says that further delays in opening beds in the nursing unit and the Day Care Centre in Abbeyleix Hospital is unacceptable.
“I have raised this again with the Minister for Health and HSE management and received the following response: ‘A supply issue with the building materials required to finish the works in Side A has caused the delay in operationalising the service.
“‘Contractors for the project have projected these works will now be completed in Q3 (July – September)’.”
“This follows on from a number of previous delays with both the main part of the Hospital and the Day Care Centre closed for the past two and half years.
“My information is, that previous delays were caused by a small number of shower heads having to be imported from another country.
“The current delay is due to six doors having to upgraded to fire safety standards. Why this work was not carried out during the €4million refurbishment of the Hospital is open to question.’’
“While all these delays continue, only seven out of 28 beds are in use and the doors of the Day Care Centre remain closed.
“There is a huge demand for these beds and numerous people have contacted me over the past number of years looking for a bed for their loved ones.
“Elderly people throughout the southern part of the county are without Day Care Services which is important to counter isolation and to support them to continue living in their own home.
“The staff at the Hospital are anxious to get all the services fully operational and I’m calling on the HSE to now to inject a sense of urgency into having these works finally completed.’’
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