Delays to Fermoy Community Hospital upgrades breach compliance standards

Delays of over a year on improvements to Fermoy Community Hospital are in breach of compliance standards set out by health service watchdog HIQA.

Construction work that was supposed to commence in July 2019, and which was designed to improve the quality of life of 71 residents in the hospital, is yet to begin and has just been put out to tender, the HSE has confirmed.

Bedroom accommodation in one of the hospital’s three units “does not support the provision of privacy and dignity to residents,” according to a report published by HIQA (The Health Information and Quality Authority) in September 2019.

Long-term residents did not have adequate space for the storage of their personal effects in another unit, and in this same unit, residents eat meals in their bedrooms due to a lack of proper dining room facilities.

The HIQA report noted that, despite a commitment that planned works would be complete by July 2020, construction work which was due to commence in July 2019 had not been started.

“A condition is attached to the registration of the centre, based on commitments given by the provider, that the planned works would be completed by July 2020 and the centre would then be in compliance with regulations and standards. To meet that time line, construction work was proposed to commence in July 2019,” the report said.

TENDERING PROCESS

A spokesperson for the HSE said the tendering process has now begun in March 2021, and cited Covid-19 restrictions as one reason for the delays.

“There have been unavoidable delays on this project, due to a number of factors including the impact of Covid19,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

“The project is now out to tender, and that tendering process is due to be completed very shortly (i.e. this month). We expect that works will start as soon as possible once a contractor is in place, within the context of the various challenges still posed by Covid-19.”

Cllr Deirdre O’Brien said the delays were unacceptable, and likely to extend ‘well into next year’ by the time a contractor was found and works completed.

“This is an issue for the residents’ own personal care, dignity and quality of life,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said. “Pressure must be kept on to get these works completed.”

With Covid-19 restrictions keeping long-term elderly residents of the hospital even more confined than usual, issues relating to their lack of space were of even greater concern, she said.

“We can’t use Covid as an excuse not to do things forever,” she said, pointing out that essential construction work on buildings such as schools and hospitals was permitted under level 5 restrictions.