These include:
Marymount Hospice
Twenty additional specialised inpatient beds will open in a newly constructed unit at Marymount Hospice, Cork. This initiative will also help establish a base in Mallow for community palliative services in North Cork, provide consultant input to Mallow General Hospital and double the palliative care consultant input to Cork University Hospital.
Waterford Regional Hospital
A new specialist inpatient and day service has progressed and will be opened in Waterford Regional Hospital as part of an integrated development. The unit will spread out over 1,800 square metres and will accommodate 20 single inpatient rooms and ancillary accommodation, as well as a day care unit, consultation rooms, treatment rooms, therapy area and dining area.
Kerry General Hospital
A dedicated unit for a 15 bed specialist inpatient unit in Kerry General Hospital is progressing, and will become a satellite centre for the Cork and Kerry palliative care services. Kerry Hospice will fully fund the the capital costs, estimated to be €5m, and the unit will take two years to complete, to open in early 2015. Revenue cost will be provided by HSE South and Kerry Hospice Foundation for a period of five years until services are fully configured.
Sharon Foley, Chief Executive Officer of the IHF, commented: “These developments are testimony to the efforts of the hospice movement, the support of the public and the partnership approach adopted by the HSE. We hope to see the steps outlined in this Service Plan being implemented during 2013. We also hope to see further palliative care initiatives being unveiled in HSE Service Plans for other areas of the country. It is vital that existing regional inequities in palliative care services are tackled.”
More information about the developments can be found on the HSE website.
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