I propose to take Questions Nos. 1784 and 1785 together.
There are a number of significant capital investment proposals for the University Hospital Galway (UHG) campus. These include, but is not limited, to a new Emergency Department, Women and Children’s Block, a regional Cancer Centre, new in-patient ward capacity, and replacement laboratories.
In order to deliver proposals of such complexity and scale on a congested site that must continue to be able to deliver healthcare on a daily basis, a Capital Programme Oversight Board has been established by Saolta. This Board was tasked with developing an integrated, strategic masterplan for UHG by way of a Development Control Plan (DCP) for the campus.
The Board has met 11 times to date, with the most recent meeting held on Friday 6 September 2024.
On 22 July 2024, a Programme Project Manager was appointed with the responsibility for leading and managing the progression of the DCP and an options appraisal process for the masterplan. This Programme Project Manager, alongside a design team, is being supported by a health planning team. The DCP and options appraisal process for the masterplan is expected to be complete in Q4 2024.
The proposed Emergency Department, Women and Children’s Block will provide state of the art maternity facilities including a Labour & Delivery Unit (providing both Standard Delivery Rooms and a 'Home from Home' Unit), three theatres and associated rooms, a Maternity Day Assessment Unit, a Foetal Assessment Unit, Antenatal and Postnatal Wards, and on-call accommodation. These facilities will bring the quality of accommodation available to women to an appropriate standard, support positive birth experiences, and improve patient safety and quality of care.
The Strategic Assessment Report for the Emergency Department, Women and Children’s Block has been reviewed by my Department and has been returned to the HSE with feedback. This document will now be subsumed into a Strategic Assessment Report/Preliminary Case (SAR/PBC). Saolta’s Capital Programme Oversight Board has been tasked with developing that SAR/PBC into a more integrated and strategic plan aligned to the wider campus master planning.
The approach of the Capital Programme Oversight Board will ensure that the much-needed capital investment in Galway will be based on current and future population demand, reflect integrated service capacity needs, is achievable, affordable, and represents value for money.
