Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to address the House on the issues raised by the Deputy, on behalf of the Minister of Health.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the distress that overcrowding in emergency departments causes to patients, their families and to front-line staff working in very challenging conditions in hospitals throughout the country. I also acknowledge the work and commitment of staff to ensuring the uninterrupted provision of emergency care throughout the pandemic.

The HSE reports that emergency department attendances nationally have returned to 2019 levels and are exceeding them at some sites. The continued requirement for separate Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patient pathways and ongoing infection prevention and control measures present additional challenges to patient flow in all hospitals, including University Hospital Galway. Unprecedented numbers of ED patients were reported as waiting on trolleys for admission in University Hospital Galway in September, with significant congestion in the ED due to high attendances, low patient discharges in the hospital, and a significant number of beds blocked for infection prevention and control measures. The HSE is actively working with University Hospital Galway and the Saolta Hospital Group to ease congestion in the ED. We continue to invest in University Hospital Galway to improve services to patients.

Approval has been granted to complete a temporary extension to the emergency department to provide additional accommodation. The temporary emergency department extension building will be single-storey, with a rooftop plant room and will be connected to the main hospital block at the existing emergency department entrance. Site works on the project commenced in May 2021. The phased handover of the temporary ED is expected in early 2022. The temporary ED project and associated works will also serve as an enabling works project for the proposed permanent new ED by helping to free up the site required for the proposed new block.

The development of a new emergency department at University Hospital Galway is key to addressing unscheduled care congestion and associated risk issues and meeting service demands. The proposed new ED will address existing infrastructural deficits, ensure compliance with national clinical care standards and address service capacity and risk issues. A small part of the existing ED will be refurbished and form part of the overall new ED.

The main ED, women's and children's block development at University Hospital Galway is a complex project and is in the early stages of design progression. The project is of significant scale. The proposed project will accommodate a new permanent ED, including clinical areas and ancillary support spaces and acute surgical and medical assessment units. It will also accommodate the labour and delivery unit, operating theatres, a maternity day assessment unit and foetal assessment unit. Other proposed facilities will include a neonatal unit, antenatal and post-natal inpatient departments, a paediatric day ward and inpatient ward.

The Deputy raised the issue of the resignation of four nurses from the hospital. I do not have any detail on that, but I will bring it to the attention of the Minister. I will also bring to his attention the staffing issue raised by the eminent consultant, Dr. Fergal Hickey. I do not have any information on that issue in my response, but I will raise it with the Minister.

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