Call to fast-track new elective hospital for Cork

A TD has called for Cork’s new elective hospital to be fast-tracked to deliver better care for those in the city and county and the wider Munster region.

Cork’s new elective hospital is to be built at St Stephen’s Hospital in Sarsfield’s Court, Glanmire, following a decision taken at Cabinet.

The Government gave approval for the building of elective hospitals at the Sarsfield Court site and at Merlin Park in Galway, and those developments will now be brought forward to the planning phase.

Addressing Health Minister Stephen Donnelly following the announcement, Fine Gael TD for Cork North Central Colm Burke asked if it would be possible to put in place “a new mechanism to fast-track the process for the design, the application for planning, and the building of new elective hospitals”.

“This project, from the time the HSE lodged the documentation with the Department of Health, has already taken over 12 months for a decision to be made.

“I know it has to go through a process, but from now on can that process be fast-tracked?” he asked.

Mr Donnelly said work on the project so far has taken time due to the various steps outlined in the public spending code, but said he was in agreement that the process should be sped up where possible.

“As part of the agreement yesterday, I have requested, and the Government has agreed, that my department and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform work together to find additional opportunities to speed the process up,” he said.

Noting Cork’s significant population increase in recent decades, Mr Burke said there is a real need for the new hospital to be delivered without delay.

“It should be remembered that the population of the Cork area has gone up by 170,000 in the past 25 years. That is a huge increase without any increase in real terms in hospital facilities,” he said.

“That is the reason this issue needs to be prioritised and delivered at a very fast pace in order to cater for the demands on services in the area.

“We must fast-track this project for the benefit not only of all people in Cork but also everyone in Munster.”

Last week, it was also announced that the HSE will progress proposals for ‘surgical hubs’ to quickly deliver elective care complementary to the elective hospitals.

These hubs are set to be developed in Cork, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, and Dublin.

“We believe we can have patients in these centres within 18 months, which will help,” Mr Donnelly told Mr Burke.

“A lot of extra investment is required in healthcare in Cork.”

Cork’s new elective hospital, which is planned to have nine theatres, seven endoscopy suites and nine minor operation rooms, is expected to provide 180,000 extra procedures, treatments and diagnostic appointments every year.