A two-bed hospice unit for terminally ill cancer patients in Mayo's county town has been closed for almost 18 months because of the lack of success in filling the position of medical officer.
The unit - jointly funded by the Western Health Board and the Mayo/Roscommon Hospice Foundation, and located in the Sacred Heart hospital in Castlebar - has been unavailable since the middle of 2002 due to a recruitment problem.
The Western Health Board has advertised for a medical officer for the Castlebar facility on a number of occasions over the past year and a half, but no applicant has been appointed.
Yesterday, a spokesperson for the board said the medical officer post had been advertised again recently and had not drawn a single response.
The Fine Gael spokesman on family and social affairs and Mayo deputy Mr Michael Ring says that people in the county are growing frustrated with the situation.
"Everyone appreciates the great work carried out by the Mayo/Roscommon Hospice Foundation, but the relatives of people needing hospice beds find it difficult to appreciate the present situation," said Mr Ring.
"The beds are in place at the Sacred Heart hospital. They had been in use up to the middle of last year, but, since that time, many Mayo cancer patients have had to use the facilities of the Galway hospice. That 12-bed unit is now also closed to patients for a different reason.
"It's beyond me, and most people, how what must be a well- paid job has no takers. This situation needs to be rectified immediately."