Work expected to start soon on major upgrade for Bandon hospital

CORK County Council has granted planning permission for an upgrade and an extension to Bandon Community Hospital.

Fine Gael TD, Jim Daly, told The Southern Star that the permission was granted this week and that the construction of the new state-of-the-art facility is expected to commence in the coming months and be completed within a 12-month period.

The TD said the new facility will be built on the existing site and will see the bed capacity at the hospital increase to 25 beds. 

The new facility will comprise 21 single-occupancy en suite rooms and two twin en suite rooms. It will also feature increased communal space in order to comply with HIQA standards. 

A palliative care room and two enclosed and secure outdoor areas will also be provided at the new Bandon Community Hospital, which will comprise ground floor accommodation only. 

Mr Daly welcomed the Council’s decision to grant planning permission, saying: ‘It is a significant milestone in the delivery of a vital piece of infrastructure to Bandon town.’ 

Mr Daly acknowledged that the upgrade has been ‘promised for decades’ and he praised the local hospital action group for keeping up the pressure and arguing their case so well when they met the former health minister, James Reilly in 2011.

He said Minister Reilly sanctioned capital funding for the project and the current health minister, Leo Varadkar TD, was ‘very supportive’ of the planned upgrade.

Mr Daly said: ‘This development will secure the future of the provision of care for the elderly in the Bandon area for many years to come.’

He added that ‘hopefully we will see significant increases in bed capacity in the coming years.’