The Galway Hospice says it hopes to resume new admissions shortly, following a significant breakthrough in the impasse over the 12-bed unit.
The Western Health Board's chief executive, Dr Sheelah Ryan, has agreed to employ a locum consultant for 12 months to cover the absence on medical grounds of its current clinical director, Dr Dympna Waldron.
The WHB chief executive has also agreed to work with the hospice board on alternative arrangements for signing off the new medical procedures, which have been recommended by an independent review.
In addition, the board has reaffirmed that specialist palliative care beds for the western region will only be provided at the Galway Hospice.
That review, published last March, had identified a series of medication errors by both medical and nursing staff over an 18-month period to May 2003, four of which involved emergency intervention to sustain life.
The review made 65 recommendations, most of which have already been put in place, according to the hospice. A series of bullying allegations lodged against the clinical director are due to be addressed shortly by the WHB; the clinical director has denied all such allegations.
The development has been welcomed by both the hospice board and by the Irish Hospital Consultants' Association (IHCA), which represents the hospice clinical director, Dr Waldron.
"This is a very significant breakthrough, and the hospice board is indebted to Dr Ryan and the WHB for their support," Dr Richard Joyce, chairman of the Galway Hospice, told The Irish Times.
"The fact that the locum position has the endorsement of the WHB means that it is no longer a position that might be difficult to fill. We will leave no stone unturned to find a suitable locum, and will implement the clinical recommendations," Dr Joyce said. Due to staffing shortages, the hospice would probably open four beds initially, he forecast.
Mr Finbarr Fitzpatrick of the IHCA said he had no difficulty with the alternative arrangements for signing off on the revised medical procedures.
"We also understand that a locum had been considered before now, but the difficulty will be in finding one as there are only a handful of palliative care consultants in the country," Mr Fitzpatrick said.
The WHB chief executive's intervention is the first since the review's publication and follows the recent withdrawal of Dr Waldron from negotiations on the implementing of the new medical procedures. The WHB was informed that this was for medical reasons. Dr Waldron has continued working with seriously ill patients at University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG).
The hospice board's new chairman, Dr Richard Joyce, sought this week's meeting with the WHB to try and break the impasse. He had been critical of the board's handling of the issue and said earlier this week that the matter would have to be appealed to the Department of Health if no resolution could be found.
More than 20,000 signatures protesting at the hospice's continued closure to all new admissions have already been presented to the Minister for Health and Children, Mr Martin.
The WHB chief executive, Dr Ryan, described this week's meeting with the hospice foundation as "very positive".