Proposal for former nurses' homes to be used again

SCORES of self-contained former accommodation units in Omagh could be brought back into use if a council proposal is accepted.

For three decades from the late 1960s until the 2000s, the nurses home at the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital was a hive of activity. The area is now generally used by the Western Trust as offices.

But concerns among Trust officials that a lack of accommodation might be stopping health workers coming to the Tyrone and Fermanagh areas has prompted a new proposal.

In a letter discussed by the council last week, the Western Trust said it had recently encountered an issue around availability of accommodation for its international recruits.

Retiring Chief Executive, Dr Anne Kilgallen, said that since January 2019, 27 international nurses had been appointed to posts in Enniskillen, as well as five consultants, and 14 speciality and junior doctors recruited to the Fermanagh and Omagh area.

She added that they had been successful in attracting and recruiting a growing pool of ‘highly skilled and experienced doctors from across the world.

Independent councillor, Emmett McAleer, said that the former nurses home in Omagh could be ideal, if the accommodation was refurbished and updated.

However, Omagh Town Sinn Fein councillor, Anne Marie Fitzgerald, expressed some reservations about the plan.

“These old nursing blocks have been in use, but they would be unsatisfactory accommodation at the moment,” she said.

“It is really bad because you can hear someone boiling a kettle in the adjoining room. The Trust cannot find enough nurses, but they have been very relaxed about giving them full-time jobs and instead they get six month contracts.”

The council decided to write to the Western Trust in relation to the proposal to convert the old nursing blocks in Omagh back into accommodation.