Staff at Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Sligo may face mandatory redundancies as the hospital moves to a new care model, Government representatives were told today.
Ministers of State Marian Harkin and Frank Feighan, and Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Scanlon, all met with management of the hospital at Leinster House today.
They were told by hospital management that at the moment, Kingsbridge are engaging with staff on a voluntary redundancy package, applications for which closed today.
However, there may be a number of workers who might not be interested in this package and who may face mandatory redundancy.
Kingsbridge currently employs 83 staff members in Sligo and also has private hospitals in Belfast and Derry.
It is only staff in Sligo who will be implicated by the changes.
Staff were informed at a meeting late last week that retraining or redeployment to other roles ahead of the transition to the new care model.
Kingsbridge said at the meeting that they had initially received planning to extend the hospital in Sligo, but faced some significant issues relating to bedrock and flooding.
Kingsbridge’s hospital in Ballykelly, Co Derry will now be the main hub of their operations in the northwest, while the Sligo hospital will now be an ambulatory care centre.
There will be no overnight stays and all new care provision in Sligo will now be day cases.
Currently, approximately 90% of cases are day cases and as a result, approximately 10% of current cases will be discontinued in Sligo.
Kingsbridge also committed to a significant investment of around €3 million in its Sligo facility during the meeting, and said that many services such as endoscopy, cataracts, gynaecology, urology, the pain clinic and MRI would remain in Sligo.
Plans are also being finalised for the installation of a CT scanner in late 2026.
A statement on behalf of all three TDs issued after the meeting said that they “emphasised” that the voluntary redundancy package that will be offered to staff “will be generous, compassionate and will be well over and above their statutory redundancy obligations”.
“While we understand that Kingsbridge is a private hospital, we will continue to liaise with all stakeholders to ensure the best possible outcomes,” the statement added.