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24 Oct 2025
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24 Oct 2025
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Just 12 months ago, but it feels like a lifetime since January 2022!
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The year began with Kilkenny deep in ‘Covid Chaos’ as our first front page of 2022 proclaimed.
St Luke’s Hospital was under intense pressure with mounting Covid cases and reduced staffing levels due to the ongoing pandemic.
At one stage there were 32 patients in the hospital being treated for Covid and two suspected cases, resulting in no available beds at the hospital, which also had no further ICU capacity.
In January it was also proving extremely difficult to book a PCR test, with people in Kilkenny describing the ‘nightmare’ of long delays and website crashes.
Health matters were to the fore later in the month when we reported a critical shortage in GPs across the county. The GP shortage meant many local practices were unable to take on new patients, leaving new families without a doctor. Major practices across the county were at full capacity. The Kilkenny People contacted practices across the city and county. Every practice that responded to queries said it was currently unable to take on new patients.
Data released by The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) four years ago found that Kilkenny had the second highest number of GPs per capita set to retire and local retirements are now clearly exacerbating the issue.
Click NEXT for more news and photographs from January 2022!
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