Plans for the long awaited upgrade of several departments in St Luke’s General Hospital were revealed earlier this week at a media briefing at the Education Centre at the hospital. The new development is expected to get underway in September of this year.
The briefing was attended by Phil Hogan, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government along with local TDs John Paul Phelan, John McGuinness, Ann Phelan and Pat Deering along with Mayor David Fitzgerald and Chairman of the council Paul Cuddihy on Monday last July 25.
The politicians viewed the plans and the site marked for the priority capital developments at the Hospital for which funding of €13m was recently announced..
Minister Hogan also visited the hospital’s Acute Medical Assessment Unit and met staff in the Paediatric Unit where he viewed plans for the Unit’s refurbishment.
The plans for the capital developments included the following;
Emergency Department (ED )
The Emergency Department will include a waiting area, triage area, three-bay resuscitation area and separate paediatric Resuscitation bay all with X ray facilities, an eight-cubicle major treatment and examination area, a separate paediatric treatment area, a minor treatment area and a bereaved relatives room. Ancillary clinical support accommodation will be provided. The ED will be at ground floor level and have separate entrances for ambulant and ambulance patients and will provide a state of the art environment for patients from the Carlow/Kilkenny area
Acute Medical Assessment Unit (AMAU )
The AMAU which has a briefed area of 290 m 2 (10 bed unit ) is located adjacent to the Emergency Department so as to facilitate the effective operation of both departments. The principal areas of accommodation will be two four-bay assessment areas, two isolation rooms, a treatment room and support accommodation. The AMAU will streamline the assessment of patients with emergency medical presentations while using shared facilities with the ED in line with the new Acute Medicine Programme.
Day Services Unit (including endoscopy )
The Day Services Unit (dedicated to the late Susie Long ) will be located at first floor level and will provide accommodation for patients attending for:
Endoscopy (inc colonoscopy ); Day Surgery including general surgery and gynaecology; Medical investigations and treatment; Dental surgery and all other procedures undertaken on a day case basis
The principle elements of the accommodation will include 24 trolley bays, two single treatment rooms, two procedure rooms, two endoscopy rooms, a 10 patient discharge area and support accommodation.
The concourse and entrance will allow the development to be linked to the main hospital complex and will be required to access CT and other diagnostic imaging facilities and also the route to admit patients to ward accommodation. The link at first floor level will be used to transfer patients attending for day procedures from the new Day Services Unit to the Theatre block and back following recovery.
The area identified for the development is currently used as a car park. As part of the main development and it will be necessary to relocate the car park and provide new car park capacity. The development will proceed to tender in September 2011 with some enabling works carried out in 2011 and work commencing on the main site in the first quarter of 2012, taking 15 to 18 months to complete.
Progress
Dr Garry Courtney, clinical director, St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny said the plans for the new development marked the project’s progress and said, “on behalf of all my colleagues in St Luke’s I want to say how pleased I am that the new Emergency Department and Acute Medical Assessment Unit are progressing. I am particularly pleased that the new Day Services Unit is progressing, enabling us to deliver on a promise we made to the late Susie Long who campaigned for such a facility. The new Unit will increase the hospital’s capacity to provide endoscopy procedures (including colonoscopies ) for patients and ensure we can meet the ever increasing demand for these services into the future. The new ED and Medical Assessment Unit will further enhance the delivery of emergency services to the population of Carlow/Kilkenny.
Pat Healy, regional director of operations, HSE South welcomed the Minister’s visit to St Luke’s and acknowledged his ongoing support of the hospital saying, “today’s event to view the plans and the site marked for the new €13m capital project acknowledges the significance of this development for the Hospital. The new Emergency Department, Acute Medical Assessment Unit, Day Services Unit and Concourse at St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny will provide staff with a better environment in which to provide treatment and care for the people of Kilkenny, Carlow and the surrounding areas. I look forward to these projects being progressed without delay and following commissioning will be open to patients in 2013.
Paediatric Unit Refurbishment
The Minister also visited the Paediatric Unit, which opened in 1994 and viewed the plans for the planned refurbishment works which are due to commence in September 2011 and includes a new two-bay admission ward (three bays in total ), waiting room, conversion of three bed nursery to two single rooms, improved parental accommodation and new nurses station.
Funding of €250,000 is being provided through the national hospital award scheme and a significant donation from the Friends of St Luke’s General Hospital of €75,000.
This refurbishment works will ensure that the built environment in the paediatric ward will meet current guidelines and standards and will greatly improve care and facilities for both children and their parents.
