Growing need for step-down care in Tipp

By Brendan Murphy

There was an understandable level of frustration when the news broke in March of last year that the new St Conlon’s Community Nursing Home at Tyone, Nenagh, would be used as a hospital step-down facility to ease congestion at University Hospital Limerick.

Staff and residents at the current St Conlon’s home in Church Road in the town had been waiting patiently to transfer to the amazing new building in Tyone and were deeply upset and angry at the news at the time that the new home was to instead be used as a step-down facility for a temporary period.

Then it was announced earlier this year that the residents of the old Saint Conlon’s Home will now transfer to their new nursing home in October.

This news has been broadly welcomed by the residents, staff and the community of Nenagh as the Church Road home has serviced the community for decades, providing first class care for its many residents.

But it is only fitting that its residents can now move into a more modern facility, making their lives

more comfortable.

I am delighted to welcome the news which has been announced earlier this year that they will take up residence in their new home.

Many of the residents of the Church Road building have been waiting a very long time for this new facility. In addition, there is also a waiting list for new residents as the Tyone facility has a bigger capacity.

The repurposing of the building which was intended to ease pressure from UHL was in many ways not fair for the many residents at St Conlon’s, however they can now look forward to moving to their new home in the coming weeks.

‘MASSIVE VOID’

I feel that the closure of the step-down unit in Tyone will now leave a massive void in the community. The unit provided essential aftercare for a large number of patients in the community transferred there from UHL and Nenagh General Hospital.

The level of care that patients received at the stepdown unit was exceptional, according to families I spoke to.

One former patient at the unit said: “It was a God-send to have this facility in Nenagh, which allowed me the time to recover.”

For me this highlights the need for a similar facility in the community. Having a permanent step-down care facility would certainly take pressure from UHL and Nenagh and would allow patients the recovery time that they need without taking up a bed in our hospitals that might be otherwise needed for more urgent cases.

The care and attention that patients received in the current step-down unit as reported by many patients was second to none.

Surely it would make sense for the Government to look at opening a permanent unit in Nenagh at a different location, and perhaps in multiple locations around the country to ease pressure from our hospitals while also creating employment for our

healthcare workers.

The opening of the new 96 bed block unit at UHL will certainly help bring down the numbers of patients on trolleys. However, I don’t think that this will completely solve the problem and we need to be taking multiple approaches to tackle the serious problems that we have with our healthcare system as the population and demand for healthcare is consistently on the rise.

TD’s VIEW

Fianna Fáil TD, Ryan O’ Meara, said: “Healthcare in the Mid-West region, and especially here in North Tipperary, is a major concern for me and the people that I represent. There is no denying that the numbers of people on trolleys in UHL is unacceptable and increased numbers of beds across the region are needed to address this.”

Deputy O’ Meara added: I welcome that the new 96-bed block is due to open in UHL in the near future as well as works to progress the second 96-bed block, and I am continuing to keep in contact with the HSE for progress reports on this.

“The HSE have committed to handing back the new Community Nursing Unit to the area to be used as a home once the new block in UHL has opened. This will be a very welcome step for the residents of St Conlon’s in Nenagh and for those waiting for a place in the new Community Nursing Unit.

“We clearly need more beds in UHL and more step-down beds across the Mid-West region to reduce the numbers of people waiting on trolleys in UHL,” said Deputy O’ Meara.

“I believe that Nenagh, Ennis and St Johns would benefit from increased numbers of step-down beds, so that local people can recover and receive rehabilitation locally.”