Louth Senator Erin McGreehan has said the A&E department at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda is a necessary resources for people in Louth and Meath and has called for increased investment into it in order to increase capacity and capabilities.
Speaking in the Seanad, Senator McGreehan said: “Increasing capacity and capabilities at the A&E department at Our Lady of Lourdes is absolutely necessary.
“The problem of full capacity and waiting times often gets so bad that people are urged by the management of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital not to attend because of an absolute emergency. Such a warning was issued this month on the 5th October.
“I beg the Department to look at the demographic changes in Louth and the north east in general, at the options to increase the emergency department capacity and at increasing the number of beds in the hospital. I appreciate that more than 116 beds have been added in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital recently, but we need to look at all options, including perhaps the expansion of the services in Louth County Hospital in Dundalk with the injury unit.
“Where there is a will, there is a way. We will continue to see an increase in the population in the north west. The most recent investment happened in 2016. It is time for new investment and an increase in the services there.”
In response to Senator McGreehan, Minister of State at the Department of Health, Colm Burke, said: “Looking to the future needs of the hospital, with the anticipated future growth in the local population and an increasing population over 75 years of age, it is necessary to further develop the hospital’s capacity and capability. In this regard, a number of projects are planned and under way to improve acute hospital capacity. Under the Government’s hospital bed expansion plan, a total of 141 new and replacement beds will be delivered at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital by 2031. Of these, 96 beds are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2028. Additional inpatient accommodation is being constructed off site as a modular unit and is expected to be on site and completed in early January of next year.
“This unit will deliver 15 additional beds to the hospital. A feasibility study has also been conducted to convert the Boyne ground floor west of the hospital to an inpatient ward. This feasibility study looked to identify potential for additional beds. These projects speak to the high level of investment this Government continues to put into Drogheda for the benefit of the staff and patients.”
-ENDS-
Full exchange in the Seanad can be viewed here.
