Call for upgrade to Lourdes Hospital in Louth
Louth Labour TD, Ged Nash, has said it is time to upgrade Lourdes Hospital to a ‘Model Four’ facility
Louth TD, Ged Nash says he is convinced the answer to ongoing capacity problems at Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is to upgrade the Drogheda facility to a Model Four hospital.
The Labour TD said that “continuing capacity issues at the Lourdes Hospital is having a far-reaching impact on healthcare in our community.
“It is those very problems that recently almost led to the closure by the HSE of step down beds at the Cottage Hospital, so that staff there could be transferred to the Lourdes.
”Thanks to a concerted community effort which I led, this has now been set aside and a formal review is underway.”
Deputy Nash continued: ”The ongoing issues at the Lourdes will come back to bite us if the fundamental problem of capacity and evidence-led future planning is not comprehensively addressed.
“The Lourdes, since the downgrading of the Louth County Hospital and Navan, has never received the funding and support needed to fully meet the needs of the region.
“In so many ways it is a de facto Model Four hospital, but without the funding and the plans for the future that we should be entitled to expect.
“The services cannot continue to live a hand to mouth existence and management and staff need to be supported to help meet the needs of a population that’s closing in on 400,000. The area is the largest in the State without a Model Four hospital like Beaumont and we need that to change”
Deputy Nash added: “I am more convinced than ever that there will be no solution to this issue until and unless the Lourdes Hospital is upgraded from a Model Three hospital to a Model Four facility.”
The Louth Labour TD explained: “I have called on the Minister for Health to carry out a formal review of the Lourdes Hospital ‘Model Three’ status with a view to having it upgraded to Model Four, taking account of the population growth of the region and the increased demands on its services.
“I made that call via a Parliamentary Question to the Minister which has now been referred to the HSE for a detailed response and I hope that both the Minister and the HSE can see the wisdom of upgrading the hospital to the Level 4 status, the demands on its services now requires
”This government needs to bite the bullet, decide that the Lourdes is a ‘Model Four’ hospital and fund and plan the hospital accordingly.”