Plans for a new 20-bed cystic fibrosis unit at hospital now at ‘advanced stage’
PLANS for a new 20-bed cystic fibrosis unit at Beaumont Hospital are at an advanced stage, with an application to begin the €11m development to be submitted within weeks.
A design for the two-storey building has been chosen, which will include single en-suite rooms.
Members of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and people with the condition met with Senator Catherine Noone yesterday, calling for confirmation that the project, which was promised in May 2016 under the Programme for a Partnership Government, would go ahead.
Alice Ward (23), a videographer from Sutton, Dublin, but living in
Co Sligo, told the Irish Independent she had felt consistently let down by the country’s health system.
“If I become sicker and sicker, which is very much the reality, and things don’t change, I feel like I should go abroad to get a proper health service,” she said.
Beaumont confirmed the planning application would be in place by the end of the month.
“Beaumont Hospital is eager to progress plans to develop a new unit on site,” it said.
“The minister and the department remain fully committed to this project,” a spokesperson for the Department of Health said last night. She said funding for projects was usually locked down once planning permission had been granted.