Local TD and Government Chief Whip, Hildegarde Naughton, has been informed that the HSE has approved the appointment of the integrated design team and the project controls team for Galway’s Elective Hospital detailed design. This new hospital will be based in Merlin Park Hospital, where work is already underway on the Interim Surgical Hub, which is a transitional structure until such time as the permanent Elective Hospital is built.
Both teams will be tasked with the design of both Cork and Galway Elective Hospitals. This is to ensure a standardised and consistent approach in design and delivery of the elective care facilities.
The new Elective Hospital will provide capacity for high volume, low acuity surgical cases from public waiting lists. Government policy currently is in place to develop and design phase 1 of the elective care programme for ambulatory care. Phase 2 will seek to design capacity for inpatient scheduled care activity.
“I am informed that arrangements are now being put in place to notify the successful team and formally appoint them to develop the detailed design for the elective hospitals in Galway. Subject to agreement between the parties, it is envisaged the team will be appointed in the coming weeks,” Minister Naughton said.
“While I am pleased to see further progress, I will be discussing the matter with the Minister for Health this week with a view to ensuring the project proceeds as speedily as possible. The opening of the Interim Surgical Hub next year will certainly assist in dealing with waiting lists for elective procedures, however, it is imperative that the permanent hospital is constructed as soon as possible in order to effectively tackle the issue of cancelled operations in Galway and the West,” the Minister said.
“The UHG site is simply not able to cater for the volume of surgical patients it is expected to see. The staff in University Hospital Galway provide an amazing service and are hugely dedicated professionals, however, the issue is access. We have for too long been trying to provide too many services from the one restricted campus on Newcastle Road. I have been fighting to separate elective and urgent care within our system in Galway since I was first elected to the Dáil in 2016 and while this news is positive, I will absolutely not rest until our Elective Hospital welcomes its first patients,” she said.
