Taoiseach reneges on promise to help Galway Hospice

Date Published: 20-Feb-2013

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has been slammed for failing to deliver on a promise more than a year ago to bridge the funding gap at Galway Hospice and assist with an expansion plan.

And if the HSE proceeds with further cutbacks for 2013, it will deal a “crushing blow” to the hospice and could mean bed closures.

Last February, Mr Kenny said he would honour the dying wish of former Connacht Tribune editor John Cunningham – who had been a director of Galway Hospice Foundation – and ensure ongoing funding shortfalls were sorted out and provide capital funding for an expansion.

It was a renewal of a commitment he had given to Mr Cunningham some three months earlier when he visited him at his hospice bed.

However, Sean O’Healy, Chief Executive of Galway Hospice said this week: “A lot of people that heard that commitment given by Enda Kenny are dead now.”

He said he is still battling a potential cut of up between 1.6% and 5% in funding by the HSE for 2013 – which effectively imposes a threat of bed closures at the 12-bed inpatient facility.

Already, the facility has been hit by cuts of 10.1% since 2009, which has forced the Hospice Foundation to dig into its own reserves.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr James Reilly has said that while Galway has been identified by the HSE as a ‘priority’ for more hospice in-patient beds, other shortages around the country need to be addressed.

Mr Kenny has failed to respond to a series of questions posed by this newspaper, and Mr Cunningham’s family, on his promise.

And Mr Cunningham’s widow Nuala said she was “hugely disappointed” the Taoiseach had not honoured

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.