Thomas Gould
Question:1894. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Health if he will provide an update on the progress of the ambulatory elective hospital in Cork; and the expected timeline of completion. [19257/21]
View answerWednesday, 21 April 2021
Questions (1894)
Written answers
The National Development Plan stated that, “New dedicated ambulatory elective only hospital facilities will be introduced in Dublin Galway and Cork. These facilities will provide high volume, low complexity procedures on a day and outpatient basis, together with a range of ambulatory diagnostic services. The high volume of demand for such services in these major urban centres is sufficient to justify the construction of dedicated ambulatory centres.”
The introduction of these dedicated elective/ambulatory sites is also in line with the recommendations of the 2018 Health Service Capacity Review and the Sláintecare Implementation Strategy (August 2018).
In 2019 the Sláintecare Programme Implementation Office (SPIO) established an Elective Hospitals Oversight Group, under the joint governance of the Health Service Executive, Department of Health and Sláintecare, to guide the development of the elective/ambulatory sites, as outlined in the National Development Plan (February 2018).
The Elective Hospitals Oversight Group has the following terms of reference:
1. To develop the elective hospital capacity with a ten-year horizon of need, which facilitates the separation of scheduled and unscheduled care.
2. To provide quicker, higher quality, safer care for selected, elective patients.
3. To create capacity for acute hospital sites and reduce/eliminate outlier boarding (trolleys).
4. To drive down waiting lists, both outpatient and inpatient/day case.
5. To reduce cancellations.
6. To reduce acute hospital footfall.
The Oversight Group is following the process outlined in the Public Spending Code. As required under the Code, a Strategic Assessment Report has been completed and approved for the development of Elective Hospital facilities. This sets out the rationale for investment, the alignment of the programme with strategic requirements of Government, some initial options and potential costs, and the governance of the programme.
A site identification exercise to identify possible suitable sites in Cork, Galway and Dublin will begin in the near future. In accordance with the Public Spending Code, sites short-listed following this exercise will be appraised on a qualitative and quantitative basis with a view to determining a single preferred option in each location to be included in the Preliminary Business Case (PBC). Once completed, the PBC will be submitted to Government for its consideration.
The timeframe for completion is subject to a number of further stages of approval by Government; however, it is hoped that the new elective facilities would be operational no later than the end of 2025.