Though lunchtime protests continued outside St Patrick’s Hospital this week, staff have been told that the of late controversial St Brigid’s Ward will close on 6th October.
The remaining 13 patients on the 19-bed ward, many of whom have been there for a number of years and are highly dependent on the care and attention of the devoted staff, are to be moved to the ground floor of St Patrick’s in the coming days. So too are the ward’s 15 staff, following a Labour Relations Commission meeting held at St Otteran’s last Wednesday.
In the region of 300 people remain on the waiting list for a coveted bed in St Patrick’s Hospital and both they and they and their families now face a highly uncertain time. The HSE has outlined plans for a new 50-bed Community Nursing Unit on the grounds of the hospital, although no planning application has yet been made with Waterford City Council and staff say they are not even aware of the location of the proposed unit.
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