Roscommon Galway Deputy Denis Naughten is calling on the Health Minister to make sure a second 50 bed ward block at Portiuncula Hospital is included in government plans for 1,500 new hospital beds.
The Independent TD says the groundworks at the hospital, which delayed the initial construction of the current project, made provision for a further 50 beds to be constructed on the site.
He says if the government will is there to ensure that Portiuncula gets 50 of the 1,500 new beds being promised nationwide, the project could happen quite quickly, and would not have to rely on modular buildings as is being proposed by the HSE to speed up delivery.
Deputy Naughton says the case of more beds at Portiuncula can't be argued against in light of the rise in overcrowding there.
'We have already made provision for an extra 5o beds ward block extension at Portiuncula and I am saying that the new 50 bed additional block needs to be part of these 15000 new hospital beds that are going out for tender at the moment. Remember that last January, Portiuncula was the most over crowded emergency department in the country when you take into account the number of beds in the hospital as a whole.'
