Local Councillor Charlie O’Connor, has made a strong call for the long promised additional Beds at Tallaght University Hospital.
He proposed the following motion at the May meeting of the Regional Health Forum “That this Regional Health Forum – Dublin Mid Leinster- renews its calls for the provision of additional Beds at Tallaght University Hospital which celebrates the 25th Anniversary of its opening on the 21st June next and notes a previous call by a prominent Tallaght Consultant who identified a clear need for such development;”
Councillor O’Connor received a detailed response from Trevor O’Callaghan CEO Dublin Midlands Hospital Group who told him that “Tallaght University Hospital works continuously to free beds for admitted patients, but there is a clear underlying requirement to develop additional onsite bed capacity. Following completion of an external strategic analysis review which was submitted to the HSE the Hospital have received confirmation of funding for the project. It will now move to the next stage in the design process to develop a new 72 single bed facility. The Board and Executive Management Team welcome this development.”
In his contribution at the meeting, Charlie O’Connor who is a former member of the Board of Tallaght Hospital referred to the huge catchment area served by the Hospital which includes not only Tallaght but parts of Kildare and Wicklow as far as Carnew. He added “I get regular calls from constituents in respect of my local Hospital including Accident and Emergency Department delays and waiting lists”.
Charlie O’Connor continued that “the need for additional Beds has been obvious for some time and I applaud consultant Ronan Collins who has highlighted this need.” At the meeting, Charlie O’Connor called on all elected Public Representatives in the catchment area to support the call for additional Beds and further called on the HSE Management to regard the whole issue as a priority.
