Too few respite beds in county town
Hospital Conditions Protest with Cllr Michael Kilcoyne. Picture: John O'Grady.
A Castlebar councillor has said that there are too few respite beds in the county town.
Cllr Michael Kilcoyne asked management of the HSE at last week’s Regional Health Forum West, “how many respite beds has the HSE in Mayo and where are they located?”
Chief Officer with Community Healthcare West, John Fitzmaurice said there are currently 14 respite beds in district hospitals in Mayo and a further 36 in disability services which are provided by voluntary service providers.
“We are very fortunate in Mayo to have the three district hospitals and we work very closely with our colleagues there to prioritise people coming out of the hospital and to avoid a situation where people have to go into the hospital in the first place,” Mr Fitzmaurice said.
There is only one respite bed in Castlebar at Sacred Heart Hospital.
“That’s an area with a population of 25,000 people with a four-mile radius and one respite bed,” Cllr Kilcoyne said.
