A protest campaign in Nenagh is set to continue against HSE plans to use the newly built 50 bed community nursing home as a temporary stepdown facility to alleviate the overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick.
Thousands took part in a march on Saturday as the decision means 23 residents currently in St Conlans nursing home and others on a waiting list will face a delay of at least a year for a room in the new facility.
HIQA has deemed the current nursing home building on Church Road as not fit for purpose.
Union representatives from the Irish Nursing and Mid Wife’s Organisation(INMO), FORSA and SIPTU are to meet with HSE officials this week to seek a compromise that would see the existing 23 residents move into the new facility as soon as possible.
The trade unions are also opposed to HSE plans to hire a private operator to run the Step Down Facility rather than directly managing the facility which is located adjacent to Nenagh hospital.
A meeting between the HSE and the staff at St Conlan’s is planned for May 20th.
