Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2024
619. Deputy Catherine Connolly asked the Minister for Health the status of the development of the promised new cancer care centre in Galway University Hospital; the timeline for the construction of the new centre; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17637/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraGalway University Hospitals (GUH) is proposing a number of projects of significant scale on its University Hospital Galway (UHG) campus, including a new regional cancer centre. In order to ensure that capital investment works do not adversely impact the delivery of healthcare on the congested campus, a programmatic approach for the delivery of these projects will be required.
To address this need, a Capital Programme Oversight Board was established by Saolta in September 2023. This Board has been tasked with developing a master plan from which all individual proposals on the UHG campus will flow, including the development of a regional cancer centre.
In line with the requirements of the new Infrastructure Guidelines, which replaced the Public Spending Code, a Strategic Assessment Report (SAR)/ Preliminary Business Case (PBC) for the cancer centre must be developed. The first step in this process, the completion of the SAR, has been completed and the Department has provided its feedback to the HSE and the project team to inform the development of the SAR/PBC.
The submission of the SAR/PBC is dependent on the completion of the master planning for the UHG campus by Saolta’s Capital Programme Oversight Board and the sequencing of projects and works to unlock the necessary capacity on the campus. Any SAR/PBC submitted must be subject to a Departmental review and independent external validation, including an external assurance process and presentation to D/PENDPDR’s Major Project Advisory Group. Satisfactory completion of this review process will enable Government consent to be sought to proceed to the next stage of the project development process- development of the pre-tender business case and completion of the all the statuary planning processes.
The timeframe for the delivery of cancer centre will be determined by the consideration of the proposal within the integrated masterplan under development and the outcome of the findings from each review stage, to ensure that the proposal remains feasible, delivery and represents value for money.
In 2023, construction on a new €70m radiation oncology centre in University Hospital Galway was completed and the Minister for Health officially opened the facility in October 2023. The newly built radiotherapy unit will lead to an increase in capacity for radiotherapy treatments. The new technology available in the centre also significantly increases the ability to accurately target and treat tumours. This will ensure equal access to cutting edge therapies for patients throughout Ireland.
