Decision on new nursing home is due

A decision on the development of a 60-bed nursing home in Donard is expected by Monday.

Ted Flynn had applied to Wicklow County Council for planning permission to build a 60-bed single storey nursing home as well as eight dormer houses consisting of four sets of semi-detached dormers at Donard Demense West, Donard, last December.

The application also looked for permission to build a recessed entrance and accommodation roads to serve the proposed development, connection to public foul sewer and water main and all associated site works.

On February 14 of this year Wicklow County Council looked for further information from Mr Flynn which he submitted on May 9.

The application is being supported by the HSE and David Walsh, Chief Officer with the Community Healthcare Organisation with the HSE, wrote to the council saying there was constant pressure on Tallaght Hospital and to a lesser extent Naas Hospital ‘in relation to the souring of appropriate long term options for patients within their catchment areas’.

He wrote that: ‘in recent years given the lack of local options, people from west Wicklow have been obliged to seek nursing home care in Kildare or even Carlow. These options are often seen as preferable and more accessible than nursing homes in east Wicklow.

‘It is HSE policy that persons remain at home as long as possible and that care is delivered in the home to support that. However, demographically, even with the increased resources going into home support there is a rising need for good quality long term care options. For that reason I support the proposal to provide additional options for long term care in West Wicklow as this will allow residents to receive care in their own community as appropriate.’

A decision is expected to be made by this Monday.