MINISTER Joe McHugh has secured a commitment to reopen the short stay ward in Letterkenny University Hospital.
“I am delighted to confirm that the short stay ward in LUH is to reopen,” Minister McHugh said.
“I have pushed for this investment in the hospital in Letterkenny for a considerable period of time and we hope that this development will help to ease the pressure on beds in the hospital.
“I discussed this issue with Health Minister Simon Harris at Cabinet on Tuesday morning and we now have assurances that the 19 beds in the short-stay ward will reopen next year.
“This decision comes on the back of my request to Minister Harris to review the need for the short stay ward in LUH.
“And in real terms this means a need for more nurses at the hospital, and while recruitment is ongoing to secure permanent nursing staff the assurance of the ward reopening means that more jobs will be available in LUH.”
The Government Chief Whip added: “LUH has seen unprecedented levels of investment in recent years with the budget going from €93million in 2012 to €121million in 2017 and thanks to the increasing investment in the hospital we have more than 1,500 staff working there including the equivalent of almost 570 nursing staff working in 2017, compared to 506 back in 2013.”
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)