Micheál Martin TD Minister for Health and Children announces €75.5 million health package
€65million earmarked for wide range of refurbishment and maintenance works
€5.5 million for the purchase of long-term care beds
Investment of €5 million for health research
24 July 2003
Mr Micheál Martin T.D., Minister for Health and Children today announced a major national health funding initiative of €75.5m for the Health Service of which €70 million is being resourced by the National Development Plan. This funding is additional to the capital funding of €30m announced by him earlier this week to develop new Services for People with Disabilities.
In making the announcement, the Minister stated "Given the scale, complexity and requirements of our health service, I have always been conscious of the need for continued and appropriate investment in the crucial area of minor capital needs, particularly in light of the increasing activity levels in our healthcare facilities. Meeting these, such as replacing equipment or upgrading a ward, has immediate and beneficial effects for both patients and staff alike, and are tangible evidence of the Government’s continued commitment to quality infrastructure for modern healthcare"
Approximately €65m has been earmarked for a wide range of minor capital initiatives for the system generally and will cover expenditure relating to replacement equipment, health and safety, fire precautions, refurbishment/maintenance of facilities and other local infrastructural upgrades.
The Minister is making €5.5 million available to the Southern Health Board and the Eastern Regional Health Authority to allow them access appropriate care packages for patients currently occupying acute beds but whose acute phase of treatment is over. "I recognise that the operational capacity of Accident and Emergency Hospitals in the Dublin and Cork areas in particular are compromised by the continued occupancy of beds by patients who could be discharged if appropriate facilities were available elsewhere" Minister Martin said.
In addition to the foregoing there will be a general equipment replacement programme within all Health Board areas and the ERHA.
An investment of €4.5m is also being provided to the Health Research Board. This will allow the Board to hold an open competition for research proposals, which will commence before the end of the summer. A further grant of up to €0.5m is being provided to Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin for infrastructural improvements to support Paediatric Services Research.
Department of Health and Children officials will be liaise with each of the Health Boards over the coming days to finalise the programme details.
The breakdown of the overall funding for the Eastern Regional
Health Authority and the health board areas (to include certain
local voluntary agencies) is as follows:-
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| Eastern Regional Health Authority |
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| Midland Health Board |
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| Mid-Western Health Board including St John’s Hospital |
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| North Eastern Health Board |
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| North Western Health Board |
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| South Eastern Health Board |
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| Southern Health Board including the Mercy and the South Infirmary / Victoria Hospitals |
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| Western Health Board |
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Examples of minor capital iniatives expected to proceed arising from the new funding now being made available by Minister Martin include:-
Eastern Regional Health Authority
| St. James´s Hospital St. Vincent´s Hospital, Elm Park Beaumont Hospital Mater Hospital Tallaght Hospital Royal Victoria Eye & Ear Coombe Hospital National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street Rotunda Hospital Our Lady´s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin Children´s Hospital, Temple Street Northern Area Health Board East Coast Area Health Board South West Area Health Board |
Refurbishment and maintenance / further development of health
and safety issues / equipment replacement |
Midland Health Board
| St. Joseph´s Hospital, Longford | Heating/roof repairs; replacement windows; infrastructure upgrade |
| Midland Regional Hospital, Portlaoise | Upgrade Gate Lodge; rewire laboratory; replacement autoclaves |
| Community Nursing Unit, Edenderry | Upgrade day wards/catering department |
| Athlone District Hospital | Upgrading and rewiring of nurse call system |
Mid-Western Health Board
| Mid-Western Regional Hospital Regional Orthopaedic Hospital, Croom Regional Maternity Hospital, Limerick Ennis General Hospital Nenagh General Hospital St John´s |
General Maintenance; further development of fire safety; health & safety works |
| St. Ita´s, Newcastlewest | Refurbishment/Electrical/Boiler/Roof works |
| Clare Community Nursing Units | General Maintenance/fire safety/health & safety works |
| Health Centres - Limerick/Clare/North Tipperary | General Refurbishment/fire safety/health & safety works |
North Eastern Health Board
| Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda | Refurbishment of Accident and Emergency Department |
| Cavan General Hospital Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda Monaghan General Hospital Louth County Hospital Our Lady´s Hospital, Navan |
Upgrade water supply and storage systems/general maintenance/catering department upgrade/refurbishment/fire safety/health & safety works |
| Our Lady´s Hospital, Navan | Theatres/Central Sterile Supplies Department upgrade |
North Western Health Board
| Letterkenny General Hospital | Blood Transfusion Analyser; electrical infrastructure upgrade |
| Sligo General Hospital | Pharmacy clean air system |
| Mental Health - Supervised Residential Units | General Refurbishment of Units |
| Dungloe District Hospital - Primary Care Centre | General Refurbishment |
South Eastern Health Board
| Waterford Regional Hospital St. Luke´s Hospital, Kilkenny St. Columbas, Thomastown |
Fire safety works |
| St. Luke´s Hospital, Kilkenny | New Autoclave |
| St. Joseph´s Hospital, Clonmel | Roof replacement |
| Our Lady´s Hospital, Cashel | Boiler replacement |
Southern Health Board
| Cork University Hospital | Radiology Department enabling works Replacement - upgrade fire alarm panels |
| Mercy University Hospital | Wards upgrade Replacement C-Arm (Radiology) |
| St. Infirmary/Victoria Hospital Tralee General Hospital |
General refurbishment (ward upgrade & electrical upgrades) |
Western Health Board
| Merlin Park Regional Hospital | Health & Safety upgrades |
| Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe | New Incubators |
| UCHG | Electrical infrastructure upgrade |
| Roscommon County Hospital | St. Coman´s ward upgrade |
