HSE publishes service plan with no confirmation of Donegal bed closure plans

Hospital beds are to close across the country – but the H-S-E says it’s too early to say how many.
Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim currently have 331 acute hospital beds – that number will be reduced by 15 in 2012.
The Executives’s also closing at least 555 public nursing home beds – in a bid to deal with budget cuts. However, there’s no indication of how many beds will close in Donegal, neither is there any reference to the possible closure of Lifford Hospital.
Chief Executive Cathal Magee says the cuts to frontline services are unavoidable – especially as thousands of staff leave by the end of next month.
The report also confirms that a number of Capital projects will be completed or become operational in 2012. The main Donegal will be the Glenties Primary Care Centre and the new Medical Block at Letterkenny General Hospital.