Sisk has signed an agreement to design and build seven Community Nursing Units (CNUs), at locations throughout Ireland, under the HIQA compliance programme through Public Private Partnership (CNU PPP Project). Sensori FM, part of the Sisk Group, are also part of the successful team to deliver and manage these vital units once they are operational.

The CNU PPP Project will deliver residential care facilities comprising both short and long-stay beds for older persons at facilities across the country.

The €250m 104-week programme will deliver 530 badly needed nursing-home beds to the HSE by the end of 2024 at the following locations: Ardee, Athlone, Clonmel, Thomastown, Killarney, Midleton, St Finbarr’s (Cork).

To maximise the use of MMC techniques, the building superstructures will be manufactured off-site using pre-cast concrete. When complete, all buildings will be A2 Building Energy Rating (BER) minimum.

These community nursing units will comprise two-storey accommodation mainly. The exception is St Finbarr’s, which will have a two and three-story superstructure due to the nature of the site.

All units will be located on existing HSE grounds, in close proximity to existing healthcare premises, and are replacements for existing outdated facilities. A breakdown of the locations is as follows:

• Ardee – 50 beds; greenfield site
• Athlone – 50 beds; undeveloped site in the town of Athlone
• Clonmel – 50 beds greenfield site on an existing HSE campus
• Killarney – 130 beds, greenfield site in the town
• Middleton – 50 beds, urban site on an existing HSE campus
• St Finbarr’s – 105 beds within the existing St Finbarr’s Hospital campus; a two and three-storey precast concrete superstructure and
• Thomastown – 95 beds, greenfield site adjacent to an existing HSE facility

Construction on five of the facilities will commence before Christmas 2022 (Ardee, Clonmel, Killarney, St Finbarr’s – Cork and Thomastown) and the remaining two (Athlone and Midleton) by early 2023. All facilities are expected to have construction completed by the end of 2024.

Commenting on the projects Marcus Carne, Managing Director of Regional Building at John Sisk & Son said: “We are delighted to be part of this really important healthcare project across the country and are committed to delivering these vital community nursing units to the highest standard possible and as efficiently as we can. Sisk has a really strong relationship with our supply chain partners across the country and will be using the latest technology to deliver these much-needed units.”

Craig Young, Development Director at Equitix said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Sisk to deliver these units on what will be our first opportunity to partner with them. This project sees Equitix reaffirm its commitment to investment in Ireland and we are grateful to all our funding partners under this PPP model for their support.”

Each CNU is made up of a number of 25-bed households including single and twin bedrooms en-suite. This model creates a person-centred approach focusing on quality of life; providing an environment that reflects the comforts of home, with assistance provided as necessary around the performance of everyday tasks. Each household includes a dayroom and sunroom, dining area, break out spaces, activity spaces, quiet rooms, external spaces and staff and nursing areas.

In addition, shared areas and therapy spaces are included with facilities including a family overnight stay room, clinical treatment rooms, physiotherapy and occupational therapy rooms and hairdressers’ rooms.

Extra thought will be given to interiors, which will be decorated to provide a more homely feel for residents than a traditional hospital setting.

Dementia specific beds are included in Killarney (three ten bed households), St Finbarr’s (three ten bed households) and Thomastown (two ten bed households) as well as a Day Centre in Athlone.

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