FOURTEEN Limerick and Mid West Oireachtas members have written to Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill asking for an urgent meeting.
Over recent weeks, the group has worked to build political consensus on the three options outlined in the recent HIQA report for delivering healthcare services in the Mid West.
The group has held two meetings in recent weeks, one with HSE Mid West management and another with the Mid West Patient and Service Users Council.
Meanwhile, Limerick Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan called on the government to implement all three HIQA recommendations, namely the expansion of University Hospital Limerick both on and-offsite and the building of a new Model 3 hospital, with an emergency department, in the region.
He made the call following an appearance by HIQA at the Oireachtas Committee on Health.
Opening the new 96-bed unit at UHL recently, Minister Carroll MacNeill promised that a decision on which HIQA option the government will choose will be confirmed before Christmas.
The Oireachtas members, in their letter to the Minister, outlined a cross-party proposal, signed by members from Limerick, Clare, and Tipperary, and co-signed by the HSE Patient and Service User Council, the representative body for approximately 420,000 patients across the region.
Expanding capacity at UHL beyond the current plans “is neither feasible nor deliverable given the site’s extreme congestion” and “alone will barely deliver what is necessary for the very short term, will clearly not futureproof healthcare services across the Mid West region,” the letter said.
The group called on the Minister to direct the HSE Mid West senior management team to identify and acquire a suitable new site along with a fully costed and timebound delivery plan, prioritising bed block delivery in tandem with proposed capital investment in clinical infrastructure, to be submitted no later than April 2026.
They also called for her to instruct HSE Mid West to “establish a hospital development board tasked with preparing a comprehensive plan for the delivery of a new hospital in the region”.
“Viewing the three options contained in the HIQA report as a suite of measures, rather than choices, offers the only pathway to restoring hope and achieving equity in healthcare for future generations here in the Mid West,” the letter said.
The group told the Minister that “it is also essential that you include the indicative costings for these proposals in the Revised National Development Plan in order to provide clear evidence to our constituents and service users across the Mid West of the commitment from you Minister, your Department, and that of government, to delivering equitable and sustainable healthcare for all citizens.”
They also called for a solution to ambulance service provision shortfalls and increased anbulance staff and associated infrasturctural development.
“In recognition of the large travel distances to the ED in UHL for many within the region, we would also ask that you immediately engage with the National Ambulance Service (NAS) to determine the ongoing shortfalls in service provision for the large areas on the periphery of the region.
The letter was signed by Deputy Joe Cooney, Minister Patrick O Donovan, Minister Timmy Dooley, Minister Niall Collins, Deputy Willie O Dea, Deputy Cathal Crowe, Deputy Maurice Quinlivan, Deputy Donna McGettigan, Deputy Richard O’Donoghue, Deputy Ryan O’Meara, Senator Maria Byrne, Senator Joanne Collins, Senator Martin Conway, Senator Dee Ryan, and John Wall, HSE Patient and Service User Council chairman.