Midlands hospice delay due to Ministerial indecision

Actor Brendan Gleeson with Mary Delaney, Chairperson, Laois Hospice Foundation and Irene Murray at the launch of Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning for Hospice. Picture: Conor McCabe

placeholder image — Actor Brendan Gleeson with Mary Delaney, Chairperson, Laois Hospice Foundation and Irene Murray at the launch of Bewley’s Big Coffee Morning for Hospice. Picture: Conor McCabe

Laois Hospice makes a statement on hospice location delay

The stalling in starting work on the construction of a long-sought Hospice facility for the Midlands is down to a delay by the Minister for Health in deciding on its final location.

That is the view of Laois Hospice which is one of the key stakeholders in the process of building a facility in the Midlands - the only region which has no hospice.

The Chairperson of Laois Hospice issued a statement explaining why it believes responsibility lies with Minister Stephen Donnelly who said recently that a decision was imminent.

In September 2022, the former Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced funding of €20 million for a new 20-bed specialist palliative care inpatient unit on the site of Midland Regional Hospital Tullamore.

However, this subsequently hit a snag when the Tullamore site was deemed unsuitable. This led to a review of alternatives in the Offaly town. Laois Hospice explained what followed in a process which concluded early in 2024.

“Having visited both proposed sites in Tullamore namely, Arden Lane and Wellwood sites last December all hospices were issued with an evaluation document and matrix to evaluate both sites and allocate scores as they saw fit.

“Laois Hospice duly carried out this process and the scores favoured the Arden Lane site,” said their statement to the Leinster Express.

The statement, issued ahead of the national Hospice Coffee morning, outlined where Laois Hospice believes where responsibility for the delay lies.

“Laois Hospice does not believe the issue here is which site is their preference, surely the issue is that the Minister has delayed making a decision on the site.

“The emphasis now should be on the delay by the Minister for Health on making this decision as this process was completed last February and yet no decision,” it said.

Laois Hospice made clear where the priority should be.

“The issue here is that the people of the Midland are without an in-patient hospice, the only area in the country without a level 3 inpatient hospice unit. Surely the people of the Midlands deserve better than this,” said a statement.

Offaly Hospice Foundation has also backed Arden Lane site saying it is double the size of the Wellwood site which is located on the ring road and is the site of a proposed private hospital by the Flanagan Group - an Offaly construction firm.

Hooves4Hospice, a committee backed by the Tullamore Lions Club, has an agreement in principle to buy the Arden Lane site. Offaly Hospice has not ruled out buying the Wellwood site if that is chosen.