PEOPLE IN Dingle, Co Kerry, will have to wait several more months before a new €16.4 million community hospital is opened in the town.
The first phase transfer of 43 elderly patients from the old St Elizabeth’s Hospital in Dingle, was scheduled for late July, but had to be postponed by the Health Service Executive (HSE) after the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) indicated the replacement hospital was not yet ready for registration.
Some necessary work that has to be carried out will not be completed for some months.
Both the HSE and Hiqa have declined to reveal the reasons for the delayed opening. It was learned locally, however that some of the rooms may be too small and the opening has been postponed indefinitely.
Hiqa has expressed concerns about a number of issues there and will not allow the hospital to be registered until it is fully satisfied it meets all the required standards. Dingle-based Fine Gael councillor Séamus Cosaí Fitzgerald yesterday said people were annoyed and increasingly frustrated by delays. He called on Minister for Health Mary Harney to intervene.
“Here we have one State body in conflict with another,” he said. “I believe the Minister should exercise her authority to knock heads together and insist on the immediate opening of this hospital.
“There’s no reason why it can’t be opened and licensed under conditions specifying that the required works be carried out by the HSE within a certain period.”
Mr Fitzgerald said conditions in the hospital were state-of-the-art and a vast improvement on St Elizabeth’s, which dated to the mid- 19th century.
“The opening of two of the three units should be allowed straight away and time given to complete whatever work is required by Hiqa.”
However, a Hiqa spokesman said they had to ensure all facilities met the needs of patients going into the hospital.
He said Hiqa inspectors visited the hospital in June and afterwards presented a draft report to the HSE. A response was awaited from the HSE before registration could be completed.
“This is a legal process and registration is a legal act which must be done right,” the spokesman said, adding that a full report would be published later.
The people of the Dingle peninsula, which has a large elderly population, have been campaigning for a new community hospital since the mid-1990s.