Ailing health service in line for a five-hospital booster

IRELAND’S creaking health service is in line for a welcome boost, with a mooted five new hospitals.

The National Children’s Hospital, a new location for the University Limerick Maternity Hospital, and three new facilities specially designated to tackle the surgery waiting lists, will be rolled out as part of the initial ten-year National Development Plan which is part of the National Planning Framework: Ireland 2040.

A multi-billion euro package will also include 2,600 extra hospital beds by 2027, and the replacement or refurbishment of 90 new community nursing units which will provide hundreds more beds.

The investment will also see the targets set in the recent Bed Capacity Review moved forward by four years to 2027.

The elective surgery-specific hospitals are likely to be spread across the country, one in the west, one in the east and one in the south. The ambulance fleet is to be given an upgrade, with new bases being lined up for Ardee, Mullingar, Limerick, Cork and for Galway.

And the HSE’s ageing IT infrastructure is set to be upgraded.

Record waiting lists and overcrowding in hospitals have helped the Department of Health claim a significant chunk of the €115billion budget, with the Government keen to finally get a handle on one of its most politically toxic branches.

But allaying the fears of the medical community, which have seen the rural services stripped away and an ongoing shortage of GPs, will take some doing.

This announcement comes as hospital overcrowding continues to put mounting pressure on waiting lists and emergency departments across the country.

It was revealed last month that Ireland has the longest waiting times for elective surgery compared to every other country in the EU, according to figures from the Euro Health Consumer Index for last year.

The report also showed that patients here are facing longer waits in emergency departments than those in nearly every other country in the union, with Latvia being the only nation with a longer waiting list. According to the figures, Ireland has the fifth longest waiting times for non-acute CT X-ray scans.

Following the release of the report, a spokesman for Simon Harris said the Health Minister had ‘clearly identified access and increasing capacity as top priorities’.

Last month was the worst on record for people waiting on trolleys in hospital emergency departments, with the HSE warning that A&Es will experience the same pressure this month.

This year’s winter flu outbreak, which is being considered as one of the worst to date, is contributing to these alarming overcrowding levels.