New beds for rural Kerry hospital as end to chronic staff shortages in sight
The KerrymanNew hospital beds are set to open in one of Kerry’s key rural hospitals, paving the way for the facility’s long-awaited full utilisation.
Two more beds are ready for occupancy and another two are expected within a fortnight at West Kerry Community Hospital which provides care to residents on the Dingle Peninsula.
The 54-bed hospital overlooking Dingle harbour was opened in 2010 but has never operated at full capacity.
With only 42 beds open in recent times, patients from west Kerry are still sent to other parts of the county due to the lack of staff required to run the extra beds. The new openings will take that figure to 46.
Councillor Breandán Fitzgerald welcomed the news and said the momentum was building for solving the chronic staff shortages.
“The big thing is that it’s going in the right direction,” he said.
“The goal is to open all the unused beds and get the hospital up to full capacity, so that people won’t have to travel outside of west Kerry to get a hospital bed.”
The HSE struggled to recruit new staff, launching multiple advertising campaigns to no avail. A more targeted effort was made this year, seeking out nurses and care assistants with local connections, who may wish to return to the area.
Kerry TD Michael Cahill said the new beds were “very positive news” but suggested more needed to be done to attract skilled medical workers
“I believe we will need to create new incentives to attract suitably qualified staff for our Community Hospitals, as their remoteness seems to be an obstacle,” said Deputy Cahill.