Green light given for Palliative Care Unit to progress at Waterford Regional Hospital – Coffey

Fine Gael Waterford Deputy, Paudie Coffey, has welcomed news of further progress for the Palliative Care Unit in Waterford Regional Hospital (WRH) under the HSE Service Plan for this year. Deputy Coffey has raised this matter with the Minister for Health, Dr. James Reilly TD, for the delivery of the vital service for the South East Region. The Palliative Care Unit has been promised for many years but it is now being progressed further.

“This move is a positive step forward for cancer services in Waterford Regional Hospital. A huge amount of credit must be given to the Waterford Hospice movement, who, for the last 25 years has done extraordinary work in caring for very sick people, and all with limited resources. They have also done amazing fundraising work in the South East to ensure that vital services are provided for people who need them.

“The Unit will be accommodated in the first two floors (both 900 sq mtrs) of an overall five storey integrated development in WRH. The ground floor will accommodate 20 single inpatient rooms and ancillary accommodation. The second floor will accommodate a Day Care Unit, consultation rooms, treatment rooms, therapy area, dining area and ancillary accommodation.

“The next step will be to advertise for a design team which will take approximately three months, and thereafter, proceed to secure planning and all the pre-tender work which will take approximately 12 months.

“Before the 2007 General Election, Bertie Ahern promised that this unit would be built in 2008; to date no sod has been turned at the Regional Hospital for this facility. Since my election to the Oireachtas in 2007 I have consistently raised this issue within the Seanad, the Dáil and directly with Ministers to move the project forward.

“This is a much needed infrastructural project for Waterford and the South East Region. This news is a testament to the hard work and dedication of those members in the hospice movement over many years.”