Surgical hub at CUH will aim to tackle day case waiting lists 

A surgical hub is to be established in Cork with the aim of tackling day case waiting lists. 

Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly announced that Cork University Hospital (CUH) will receive a ‘Surgical Hub'.  

The premise of the surgical hubs is to move many day-case procedures to the hubs to allow hospitals to focus on people on waiting lists in other areas.

They will be based in key locations on-site or on sites operated under the governance of Model Four hospitals, and are based on the Reeves Centre at Tallaght University Hospital, which saw day case surgery reduced by 58% over a 24-month period.

Surgical Hub developments are estimated at a cost of €100-120 million between capital and revenue, subject to the estimates process in the usual way.

The CUH surgical hub will be a modular unit, according to information issued by the Department of Health.

Announcing the initiative in recent days, Minister Donnelly said:

“These surgical hubs now being developed will address waiting lists in the shorter term and will complement the longer-term development of regional elective hospitals in Galway, Cork and Dublin.

“I’ve asked the HSE to ensure that the first of the new hubs will be operational before the end of this year, with more following in 2024.” 

Other hospitals selected for the surgical sites are Merlin Park University Hospital in Galway, University Hospital Waterford, Mount Carmel in South Dublin.

Sites in Limerick and North Dublin are yet to be finalised.