Call to stop private hospital at Dooradoyle

The construction of a private hospital on the site of the Mid-Western Regional hospital will be to the detriment to plans to move the Regional Maternity and Orthopaedic hospitals into the Dooradoyle location. That is according to Limerick East Sinn Fein candidate, Maurice Quinlivan.

He is calling on Health minister Mary Harney to scrap plans for the hospital. Tenders are due to go out in March for the construction of the hospital, and a consortium is likely to have been selected and contracts signed by May of this year.

This process must stop now before the State becomes bound by these legal contracts, which will be signed once tenders are accepted. This is a disgraceful plan aimed at massively subsidising the Private healthcare industry by providing land at a public hospital site at the possible expense of the proposed move of the Maternity and Orthopaedic services for the Mid West region to the site. This plan pours money into the pockets of millionaires at the expense of ordinary taxpayers, public hospital patients and staff alike. This public money should be spent in the public system only, on services that are available to all based on need alone. As I have said before if there is excess space in the grounds of the Mid Western Regional Hospital why isn’t it used for Public Nursing Home Spaces. This could then be used as a step down facility which would lead to the freeing up of much needed hospitals beds in the public system.”

The Progressive Democrats believe that the creation of private hospital beds will help to free up public one, but according to Mr. Quinlivan, this proposal for the Mid West Hospital does not have popular support..

“The Government has no mandate or popular support for this plan as it was never put before the people in an election manifesto by either the PDs or Fianna Fail. It was not in the National Health Strategy and didn’t appear in the Programme for Government. All opposition parties have now come out against this plan. However, as the Governments term of office comes to an end Mary Harney seems determined to force this plan through without a mandate. She must scrap this plan immediately”