HSE to increase respite services at Merlin Park Hospital
Older person’s services at Merlin Park are set to be reconfigured to meet current demand for both long and short-term stays at the Community Nursing Unit (CNU) – pending the completion of a new facility on the same site.
In a letter sent to residents and their families, seen by the Galway City Tribune, Community Healthcare West has outlined plans to develop short-stay and respite care at the unit.
There are currently 52 beds in Merlin Park CNU – equally divided between two units and made up of both single-occupancy and shared rooms.
The demand for shared accommodation has been in steady decline, exacerbated by the onset of Covid-19, as detailed by the letter which was also sent to local representatives.
“Merlin Park CNU comprises of 15 single rooms and the remaining are multi-occupancy rooms . . . at the time of this letter, the unit is at less than 50% occupancy, a situation that has essentially prevailed since the outbreak of Covid in 2019,” it stated.
“This low level of occupancy is not sustainable and to address this, management in Community Healthcare West Older Persons Services have reviewed how best to use the capacity and skillset in Merlin Park CNU. There is an opportunity to develop the short stay and respite elements.”
This opportunity would have a positive impact on the shortage of respite beds – an issue facing many seeking step-down care after leaving hospital.
“Following Covid, there has been a lot of discussion around how we can ensure residents are best protected in the event of any outbreaks of infection. Individual rooms with en suites are the preference for long-term facilities.
“There is very little demand for multi-occupancy rooms in residential care facilities. The new build for Merlin Park CNU, for which planning permission was sought prior to Covid, will have all en suite rooms and single occupancy (other than two or three rooms for couples or those opting to share),” stated the letter.
“Pending the completion of the new build, the current Merlin Park will operate as one short-stay unit with 26 beds and one long-stay unit with 26 beds. The short-stay beds will be a mixture of intermediate care beds (13) and respite beds (13).
“Increasing the capacity of short-stay beds . . . will go a long way towards offering a much-needed publicly funded respite service to older people in the area and assisting older people in our acute hospitals in discharging earlier,” it continues.
The expected timeframe given for the changeover to occur was April 2022.
Planning permission was granted by Galway City Council in March 2021 for the development of a new 60-bed community nursing unit in Merlin Park, comprising of all en suite rooms and including a 10-bed dementia unit.