The HSE has issued a ‘request for tender’ for Phase 1 of the new elective hospital in Merlin Park in Galway. 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. The HSE intends that the teams will be in place in the summer.
Welcoming the news, Minister Hildegarde Naughton said that the news is a significant step on the road to better healthcare for the people of Galway and the West,” the Minister said.
The new Elective Hospital in Merlin Park will 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. This increase in capacity will be key to tackling waiting lists and reducing waiting times for public patients.
“The design of the Elective Hospital is based on the need to accommodate 10 medical specialties encompassing 497 day procedures for suitable adult patients and based on a 12 hour working day which includes eight hours of operating time on a six days per week, 50 weeks per year schedule,” she said.
“This new Elective Hospital is a separate facility to the Surgical Hub which will open in Merlin Park next year and serve as an interim measure until the Elective Hospital is built. The Hub will provide four operating theatres, two minor procedure rooms, and ancillary facilities which and will help to significantly reduce waiting times for elective procedures in Galway and the West until such time as the new Elective Hospital is built” the Minister noted.
“I have for years maintained that the Newcastle Road site where University Hospital Galway (UHG ) is situated is far too congested and unable to cater for demand. This has now been reflected in the concentration of new infrastructure in Merlin Park, which will now be the location for our new Elective Hospital, the Surgical Hub and the soon to be completed Outpatients Unit, all of which will relieve pressure on UHG,” she concluded.
