Nenagh's brand new care home can't open
The new multi-million euro state-of-the-art community nursing home completed on a 3.5 acre site adjacent to the hospital at Tyone, Nenagh, cannot open because of a freeze on recruitment of staff in the health service.
The crux was highlighted this week by Labour Party TD Alan Kelly, who revealed that he had been informed by the HSE that it is not in a position to open the spanking new facility because of the staff embargo currently in place.
“This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable,” said Deputy Kelly, who revealed that the HSE was not in a position to give a date of when the new ultra-modern facility will be opened.
When in government in 2016, Deputy Kelly announced funding for the new Saint Conlon’s home, which is set to replace the old community care home of the same name because it cannot meet the standards set by the Health Information Quality Authority (HIQA).
Voicing his anger that the brand new multi-million euro care home, originally costed at €19 million, is currently lying idle with no timeline available for the HSE for its opening, Deputy Kelly said: “The Government and their supporters need to be woken up by the people of Nenagh and surrounds that this is not acceptable.
“I fought for this new unit. I worked every year to bring it to this stage. It is an incredible building and so badly needed and deserved. We now need to get it open and this Government needs to be told that.”
The Labour Party TD said he had worked over many years with the HSE to find a suitable site for the new care home, eventually securing one beside Nenagh Hospital in 2017.
“I brought the Minister for Elderly Care to visit the site in 2018. I worked with everyone to ensure planning was approved in 2019 and construction commenced thereafter,” he said.
“I was delighted in May 2022 when the Minister [Stephen Donnelly] confirmed to me in writing that it was expected that the new nursing home would be completed in May 2023. That didn’t happen but it was substantially completed by the end of last year, which was great.”
Deputy Kelly said that because of the progress made, he was expecting the new care home to be opening soon and that current residents of the old St Conlon’s home at Church Road in the town would be transferred to the new building.
He said people in the locality were looking forward with anticipation to the grand opening. “I know many, many families who wish to see their relatives and family members become residents of this fabulous facility.”
VERY DEPRESSING
He added: “Unfortunately the news I got recently from Government is very depressing. Through a parliamentary question I put down to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, I have been informed by the HSE that they are not in a position to open the facility and they are ‘unable to ascertain a timeline’ for doing so.
“In essence, the embargo that is in place for recruitment in the HSE means that they cannot open the facility as they cannot recruit the necessary staff. This is absolutely ridiculous and unacceptable.”
Deputy Kelly said he had a long history with the provision of public elderly care facilities in Nenagh and had supported the existing St Conlon’s Nursing home at Church Road throughout his political career and was well aware of the excellent care that staff there had given to many families, “including my own”.
He concluded: “The current St Conlon’s nursing home won’t meet HIQA requirements so we had to build this new community nursing home and now we can’t open it because of the HSE recruitment embargo. And this Government are allowing this to happen.”