Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of health services in Galway again. It is very much acknowledged by the Government that Galway requires additional capacity when it comes to our health service. It is a growing city and county, and UHG is the medical centre of excellence for the western and Connacht region. Over the past couple of years, there has been very significant investment in the hospital. The budget has increased for the past three or four years in a row, there are additional staff and there is also additional bed capacity. A new 75-bed ward block opened last year, which provides 75 en suite single rooms for patients who need them, including six isolation rooms. That has resulted in a significant improvement in bed quality and infection control at the hospital.

The next development at the hospital will be the new radiation oncology unit and the enabling works for that have started. In addition, plans are now afoot for another new block, which will house the emergency department and the maternity and paediatric unit. There are also plans, unfortunately stalled, for a new hospice in the region, with which the Deputy is very familiar. It did not get planning permission but a new planning application is being developed. Planning permission has been secured for a new 50-bed block at Portiuncula Hospital. That will go ahead and, hopefully, it will relieve some pressure on the hospital.

On the minor injuries unit at Merlin Park hospital, the Deputy raised the matter previously. I said I thought it was a good idea and I still think it is a good idea. It would not have any impact on trolleys but would mean that people attending with minor injuries would be seen more quickly. There would be fewer people in the department, therefore, but it would not impact on trolleys in itself. It is still a good idea, notwithstanding that. There is such a unit in Cork in the old orthopaedic hospital, where people who have a minor injury can be seen within an hour or two rather than joining a long wait at Cork University Hospital, and there are ones in Smithfield and Loughlinstown in Dublin. Where they exist, they work well. Given that Galway is a major population centre, it seems to be an obvious place to have a minor injuries unit.

I understand a nationwide review of minor injuries units and medical assessment units is under way. That was a commitment in the programme for Government. The Minister is waiting on an update, which he will pass on to the Deputy when he has it.

The position on the emergency department and maternity and paediatric block is as follows: the service scope for all floors has now been agreed; the enabling works packages have been defined along with specific programmes for delivering them; further work is expected to be completed in the coming weeks so that the project can progress to stage 2 of design; and then a submission will be made to An Bord Pleanála with a view to it being considered as a strategic infrastructure development so that it can go through fast-track planning. If it can do so, a formal planning application will be made right after that.

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