Taoiseach Bertie Ahern yesterday opened a €2 million renal dialysis unit at Sligo General Hospital that will replace a facility dubbed "the worst in the country" by the Irish Kidney Association.
During the visit the Taoiseach also announced that €1.2 million had been allocated for the upgrading of the A&E unit there, an initiative which hospital officials predict will considerably ease waiting lists.
The dialysis unit, five times larger than the original, has been warmly welcomed by local campaigners.
It will not only improve facilities for the 30 or so patients who undergo dialysis there but will also eliminate the hardship of long trips to Galway or Dublin for those undergoing dialysis at home.
Such home patients living in the catchment area need to be monitored intermittently at a hospital, but until now the Sligo unit could not cater for them.
Conditions at the former unit - dubbed "Dickensian" by many patients - have been a source of frustration for patients and their families for two decades.
Pat Dolan, chief officer of the Health Services Executive (northwest area) said the new unit was a significant milestone in the lives of patients and staff.
"Our patients and staff have endured conditions that we fully acknowledged were far from ideal," he said.
The new unit was also commended by consultant nephrologist Dr Austin Stack, who started work in the hospital a few weeks ago. When working at capacity the unit will cater for up to 66 patients, he said.
"Living with kidney failure is not easy. Patients generally have to undergo between four to five hours of dialysis at each visit, three times a week, 52 weeks a year," he said.
Hospital staff estimate that patients make an average round trip of up to 100 miles to undergo treatment in the facility.
The Sligo unit provides haemodialysis serving Sligo, Leitrim, south Donegal, west Cavan and north Roscommon, in a catchment area of 100,000 people. Seven patients are waiting for kidney transplants.
