HSE plans to use the recently built Community Nursing Unit in Nenagh to provide step down beds for patients from University Hospital Limerick is being opposed by 3 unions representing the staff.
Members of Forsa, SIPTU and the INMO met with Sandra Broderick, the Regional Executive Office of the HSE Mid West recently and were informed that the HSE intends to proceed with hiring a private contractor to run the facility to help address overcrowding in UHL for at least a year.
The Unions say the matter has now been referred to the National Joint Industrial Council, national union officials, who will now meet with the HSE to examine the proposal.
The state of the art 50 bed Nursing Unit is located adjacent to Nenagh Hospital was supposed to cater for current residents of St Conlon’s Nursing home as HIQA found it needed upgrading to meet current regulations and that more beds were required to cope with the demand for nursing home places.
The Unions are opposed to the idea due to the lack of consultation, agreement and the fact that a private contractor is to be hired to run the new facility while a HSE recruitment embargo remains in place.
The INMO reported 112 admitted patients on trolleys in UHL yesterday out of a national total of 577.
