Health Minister announces milestone in development of new Regional Elective Hospitals in Cork and Galway reached

Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly is today announcing that the Health Service Executive (HSE) has reached another key milestone in progressing new Regional Elective Hospitals. The HSE has issued a 'request for tender' for Phase 1 of the new elective hospitals in Cork and 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.

The selected sites for the developments are at St Stephen's Hospital, Sarsfield Court in Cork, and Merlin Park in Galway.

The Design and Project Control Teams will build on the work carried out to date to develop these significant new facilities. The 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. This increase in capacity 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.

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.

Notes to Editor:

Elective-only hospitals cater for high-volume, relatively low-acuity cases. The Elective Hospitals will be focused on providing Day case, GI Endoscopy, minor operations, outpatient treatment and outpatient diagnostics services.

In December 2022, the Government approved the next stage of the Enhanced Provision of Elective Care Programme and progression of the development of new Elective Hospitals at proposed sites recommended to be brought forward into the planning phase in Cork (St Stephen's Hospital, Sarsfield Court) and Galway (Merlin Park University Hospital). A recommendation on Dublin will follow in due course.

The demand model underpinning the schedule of accommodation required to support Phase I of the Elective Hospitals Programme for Cork and Galway is based on:

• 10 specialties encompassing 497 day procedures for suitable adult patients as deemed clinically appropriate for treatment in the facility
• A 12 hour working day which includes 8 hours of operating time on a 6 days per week, 50 weeks per year schedule