Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I put on record the Deputy's constant advocacy regarding Clifden hospital which I was delighted to visit last year. We know there has been challenges in staffing so I will focus on that. Following a derogation I secured, I am pleased to inform the Deputy that HSE community healthcare west has now successfully recruited the required staff to safely reopen Clifden District Hospital. The hospital currently has seven beds available, of which five are occupied, and two are available to support University Hospital Galway for discharges. Staff have been recruited through the use of agency staff as a temporary measure as the HSE completes the recruitment process for staff identified through local panels for nursing and healthcare assistants. The recruitment process is expected to be completed by September 2024. They are currently dependent on agency staff again but the recruitment process is under way. To maintain those seven beds, which is hugely important, the five respite and the two step-down beds from University Hospital Galway, having permanent staff in place is the way forward.

Management in the HSE community healthcare have liaised with the local management in Clifden District Hospital to ensure the reopening of the beds in Clifden is on a stable basis and that the rosters in both St. Anne's community nursing unit and in Clifden District Hospital can be maintained at safe levels to provide both short-term and long-term care in Clifden. This is an area on which I have engaged consistently with the lead for older people in the HSE, Mr. Des Mulligan. They know in no uncertain terms that I will not accept these beds not being open. They are so relevant for supporting older people to be able to live well in their own community and having that vital respite. We have been challenged in the Galway area getting respite beds open, as the Deputy knows, but I am pleased to say the recruitment will be finished by September.

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