Uncertain future for 50-bed Clonbrusk unit
The HSE has confirmed that the “preferred bidder” for the delivery of a nine-strong Community Nursing Unit (CNU) programme nationwide, including a 50-bed unit to replace St Vincent's Care Centre in Athlone, has withdrawn from the process.
The move throws a massive spanner in the works of hopes that construction on the Clonbrusk facility could begin towards the end of 2021, the most recent timeline given for the long-awaited project by health authorities.
The latest blow for the development has been described as “very disappointing” this week by Cllr Frankie Keena, Cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, who raised the issue in a motion at the latest Regional Health Forum Dublin Mid Leinster on September 21.
Cllr Keena (FF) expressed fears that sourcing a new bidder will mean the “overall costs will be significantly higher” amid escalating costs on capital projects.
A written response on behalf of Des O’Flynn, Chief Officer, CHO8, stated that the “HSE national Public-Private Partnership (PPP) project office is currently reviewing the next steps in terms of progressing the PPP programme”.
And while no further details were provided to indicate what this will entail or a timeline, it certainly seems to spell major delays for the Athlone project which also included the proposed relocation of South Westmeath Hospice, something both sides have been in dispute over as the local committee fights for like-for-like facilities to what's in place currently in the grounds of St Vincent's Care Centre.
The HSE is planning to close the facility and replace it with four beds in a new community nursing unit in Clonbrusk, but the hospice committee says the current proposal is not a like-for-like replacement and would see the loss of many of the services currently provided.
Cllr Frankie Keena said when he asked about the status of the proposed relocation of the South Westmeath Hospice facility to Clonbrusk following the forum meeting, “the HSE responded by saying that obviously, the delay in getting the overall project under construction is causing a problem”.
Back in mid-2019, the HSE indicated construction was expected to begin in the first quarter of 2021, on the new facility on land between the Clonbrusk Primary Care Centre and the Arcadia Retail Centre, continuing until quarter two in 2022, spanning a 14-16-month timeframe, although a subsequent planning application indicated that it would take more than two years to build.
It subsequently got planning approval in October of 2019. St Vincent's Care Centre has been the subject of sustained criticism from HIQA for many years now, and the HSE has always stressed it has intended to replace it with a new modern facility giving residents en-suite facilities and greater communal and personal space.
Cllr Keena is now fearful of the impact of the delays on that plan, saying that in December 2020, the HIQA report on St Vincent's “observed non-compliances in relation to the availability of appropriate sanitary facilities and maintenance issues to cater for the needs of the residents” and a condition was placed on its registration to address this issues by December 31, 2021.
In his written response to the Regional Health Forum Dublin Mid Leinster meeting, Des O’Flynn, Chief Officer, CHO8, said that “HIQA's concerns with the existing residential building in the short-term were all addressed in the compliance plan furnished to the authority and publically available” on the HIQA website. South Westmeath Hospice committee has yet to comment on the latest development.
In addition to the 50 residential beds provided, the Athlone community nursing unit proposal includes a day centre designed to cater for approximately 25 people.