Community Healthcare Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo
The Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly T.D., will today turn the sod on a new €14 million 12 bedded, “all single rooms”, in-patient unit at North West Hospice, Sligo.
The HSE funded new build will comprise of an extension to the current building to include 12 single rooms as well as outpatient facilities. The existing in-Patient Unit will be refurbished to house the other multi - disciplinary Palliative Care team.
The current Hospice in-patient unit consists of seven beds, made up of three single rooms and a four-bedded mixed gender ward. While the current in-patient unit served the population of North West well over the last 25 years, the building is not purpose-built. The new unit will provide a much improved physical structure which will further enhance the excellent specialist palliative care already provided in North West Hospice. The additional beds will increase capacity by over a third, which will help to meet the growing demand for the service.
The project aims to be complete by the end of 2025.
The clinical services at North West Hospice provide palliative care services for people with life limiting illnesses where they are residing, be that at home, in a nursing home, hospital or in its hospice.
Palliative care involves meeting an individual and assessing their needs and those of their families, spiritually, physically, socially and emotionally. These needs are then addressed with the aim of improving quality of life for the patients and their family. In order to provide this care, North West Hospice has a team of professionals including Doctors, Nurses, Social Workers, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Chaplaincy services.
North West Hospice has been to the forefront of palliative care in Ireland, and was the first specialist palliative care service in the State to provide services which are integrated across acute, community and hospice with the establishment in 2003 of the acute Hospital Palliative care service commencing in Sligo University Hospital, under the clinical and management governance of North West Hospice.
Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, T.D., said “I am delighted to turn the sod on the new In-Patient Unit at North West Hospice. Palliative care services have developed in Ireland successfully due to a long standing tradition of positive co-operation between the voluntary and statutory sectors. I want to pay a special tribute to the staff and volunteers at the North West Hospice who provide excellent palliative care during what can be a very difficult time for patients and families.”
Dermot Monaghan, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan, Sligo said “It’s wonderful to be here to mark the commencement of work on this new HSE funded in-patient unit. North West Hospice delivers incredible comfort and warmth to patients and their families and the service it provides is invaluable.”
North West Hospice Operational Lead Nuala Ginnelly said “We are delighted to see work commence on our new in-patient unit. This development is essential to meet the current and future needs of patients and families in the local community. We would like to reassure people that all of our services will run as normal during the period of construction.”
Last updated on: 23 / 02 / 2024
