Hospice journey celebrated at official opening

THE long journey to provide high quality hospice care in Dublin West took a huge step towards conclusion last week with the official opening of St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown.

St Francis Hospice has been providing palliative care to the Northside since 1989 and in 2001 it also took over the provision of services for the wider area of Dublin North West.

The need for another facility in Dublin West was identified a number of years ago and Blanchardstown chosen as the most suitable location.

The Government allocated a 6.8 acre site on lands at Abbotstown and initial funding for the project was secured through a combination of bank loans and local fundraising efforts.

The journey is not quiet over yet as outstanding bank loans of

?¬7.5 million still need to be repaid through on-going fundraising efforts, but the recent official opening presided over by Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin was certainly a cause for celebration.

Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, officially opened what he described as the

“superb

? 24-bed facility.

“It will make a real difference to patients and their families,

? he added.

“It’s here today thanks to support from the local community and very many others. The Dublin 15 Fundraising Group led by Fr Dan Joe O’Mahony and Fr Eugene Kennedy made a massive contribution of

?¬7 million.

“I want to congratulate them for their fantastic effort, along with the Chairman Justice Peter Kelly, and the Directors of St Francis Hospice Dublin.

?

Minister Varadkar also paid tribute to the late former Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, who secured land for the hospice and played a vital role in pushing the project forward.

“He is here in spirit, I am sure,

? he said.

Justice Peter Kelly described the opening of the Blanchardstown facility as

“critical

? to expanding the range of specialist community palliative care services across the Northside.

“The 24 new in-patient beds at Blanchardstown, in addition to the 19 beds we have we have available at our Raheny hospice, will greatly help reduce waiting lists for in-patient services,

? he said.

Board Representative of St Francis Hospice, Joe Fallon, said the hospice was a vital, long-awaited service for the Blanchardstown area and all West Dublin.

“As a charity, we are very dependent on the on-going support and generosity of the wider community to help assist in repaying the

?¬7.5 million bank loan and also in funding the day-to-day running costs of the new hospice,

? he said.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank and praise the generosity of those who have contributed to our cause over the last few years and to add that any further financial support would be very much welcomed.

?

Construction of the new hospice commenced in July 2009 and was completed in March 2011. Provision of revenue funding from the HSE to open the in-patient unit did not happen until 2014, with the phased opening of the 24 beds taking place between September 2014 and February 2015.

The new facility also acts as a base for the Community Palliative Care Team, an education centre and a hospice day care centre that opens two days a week. It’s hoped to extend this to four days as funding becomes available.

Between them the two Northside hospices, St Francis Hospice Raheny and St Francis Hospice Blanchardstown, now provide a comprehensive range of specialist palliative care services to a population of 580,000.