'Key milestone' on development of Regional Elective Hospital
The HSE has issued a ‘request for tender’ for Phase 1 of the development of a new elective hospital for Cork, with the site located at St Stephen’s Hospital, Sarsfield Court.
On Friday last, April 26, Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, announced the key milestone in progression for the Regional Elective Hospital. This tender is for an architect-led design team to provide architectural, design and engineering services and for a project control team to support the HSE to manage, control and administer the design/construction programme.
According to the HSE, they intend for the relevant teams to be in place by the summer.
‘Request for tender’ was also issued in relation to a new elective hospital in Galway, to be located at Merlin Park. Design and project control teams will build on the work carried out to date to develop these significant new facilities.
New elective hospitals will be separate from existing hospitals and only carry out planned elective surgery, procedures and treatments. This separation of elective from emergency and critical care will lead to fewer cancellations and delays for elective care caused by seasonal surges, localised outbreaks, and surges in emergency attendances.
An increase in capacity created through this development will be key to tackling waiting lists and reducing waiting times for public patients.
Plans for an elective hospital in Dublin are also well advanced and the minister will shortly bring a Memorandum to Government providing an update on the site and progress to date.
SURGICAL HUBS
As part of the wider Elective Care Programme and in advance of the delivery of elective hospitals, the HSE is currently developing six new surgical hubs at sites across the country.
Two surgical hubs in Dublin (Swords and Mt Carmel) are due to become operational this year, with those in Limerick, Waterford, Cork and Galway becoming operational in 2025.
These are modelled on the successful Reeves Day Surgery Unit at Tallaght, which has significantly reduced waiting times for a number of elective procedures.