Confirmation that Letterkenny University Hospital will receive 72 new acute beds has been met with a cautious welcome locally.
The increase was announced this afternoon by Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly under the Acute Inpatient Hospital Bed Expansion Plan.
Local Fianna Fáil election candidate Claudia Kennedy says while the new beds are needed, more needs to be done to bring the new Ballyshannon Community Hospital to an appropriate standard.
She says despite the official opening of the hospital taking place last month, issues regarding staff continue to affect the facility on a daily basis.
The INMO have issued a statement in relation today’s news.
The organisation says while they welcome the announcement made by the Minister, the delivery is entirely contingent on correct and safe staffing levels.
They are also calling for an end to the HSE’s recruitment embargo and say it has “never been more obvious that the HSEs recruitment embargo must be immediately lifted for nursing and midwifery grades.”
Further to this, the INMO say “There is little point in announcing additional beds without a workforce plan in place. The HSE and Department of Health have yet to publish the funded workforce plan for 2024 and we are now at the end of the fifth month of this year. If this is the methodology that will continue for workforce planning, it is hard to have confidence in the HSE’s ability to deliver these additional beds.”
