Health boost as HSE gives green light to Longford's St Joseph's care centre upgrade

Fine Gael Cllr Peggy Nolan made the admission at last Wednesday's monthly meeting of Longford County Council in a move which was unanimously welcomed across the political divide.

The long serving health advocate, who first raised the issue at the end of March after visiting the centre in a personal capacity as a result of an injury to her arm.

Cllr Nolan told of how attempts to scan her own arm had to be revisited on four separate occasions due to sluggish and “outdated” imagery equipment.

That sparked calls from the former county council cathaoirleach to hold a public rally on the streets of Longford in protest.

However, Cllr Nolan said she had since received assurances work on the well documented refurbisment would get underway in the third quarter of this year.

“The radiology department was operating on a wing and a prayer,” she said.

It comes after HSE bosses announced in May that the facility had been assigned funding to meet the calls outlined by Cllr Nolan.

She said party colleague Senator Micheal Carrigy had also tabled a parliamentary question on the topic.

In a further boost, Cllr Nolan said approval had also underwritten for 43 additonal beds at the Dublin Road facility.

“The response (to parliamentary question) was not only is the radiology department going to be upgraded but so will the provision of 43 beds and all ancillary works with that which was promised before the last (genera) election,” she said, adding that assurances over investment in mental health services locally had similarly been given.

Cllr Nolan, nonethless, expressed her frustration at what she claimed was a lack of urgency on the part of senior HSE officials to answer her concerns surrounding the future of St Joseph's.

“I understand these people high up in authority are busy, but we haev an oversight and I am looking for support from the council to have someone from the HSE come in here and answer our questions on a quarterly basis.”

The plea was one which was seconded by Fianna Fáil Cllr PJ Reilly, who said one of the reasons behind the lack of progress at St Joseph's was because Longford had no general hospital of its own.

“As a major town and county we need to have proper health services in place because Mullingar and Tullamore are streets ahead of us,” said Cllr Martin Monaghan.