Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As he knows, the cross-party Sláintecare report in 2017 articulated a new vision for healthcare in Ireland, including the provision of elective-only hospitals providing protected capacity for elective care. This policy has since been informed by a number of subsequent policy documents and Government decisions, including the national elective ambulatory care strategy agreed by the Government in December 2021.

This national strategy aims to change the way in which day cases, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans and outpatient services can be better arranged to ensure greater capacity in the future and help to reduce waiting times at a national level. The development of additional capacity will be provided through dedicated, stand-alone elective hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin. The elective care scope of services will be developed in two phases, commencing with day cases, diagnostics and outpatients, and then inpatient treatment. On this basis, the elective hospitals will be designed to provide sufficient capacity to facilitate further phases, including some elective inpatient capacity, thereby providing a sustainable and strategic response to cater for the highly dynamic landscape of healthcare policy and practice.

In December 2022, the Government approved the next stage of the enhanced provision of the elective care programme and progression of the development of new elective hospitals in Cork and Galway. The preferred site recommended to be brought forward in Cork is at St. Stephen’s Hospital in Glanmire, as the Deputy said.

It is important to note that we need to follow due process with regard to developing these plans to ensure value for money from this significant strategic development. We are, therefore, following the processes as set out in the public spending code. The planning phase now requires the HSE to develop detailed project briefs, a procurement strategy and pre-tender business cases for the new elective hospitals. Once ready, these will be submitted to the Department of Health for consideration at decision gate 2 of the public spending code prior to approval to proceed to tender. As the Deputy will appreciate, there is considerable service design and planning associated with the development of these documents but it is expected that this will be done in quarter 3 of this year.

The planning that the HSE is undertaking will give a better indication of the construction timelines for these significant projects and updates will be available in due course. However, the Government is, at present, looking to the elective hospitals to receive their first patients in 2027 and to be fully operational in 2028.

I am conscious of the strong public support for these new facilities and the desire expressed by many, including the Deputy, for them to be developed as quickly as possible. I assure the Deputy that the Minister and the Ministers of State in the Department of Health share this desire and the Department will continue to engage with the HSE to ensure the timely delivery of the new elective hospital in Cork.

I met with the Minister yesterday. He has just come back from a meeting about the elective hospitals. He is very anxious for progress to be made as quickly as possible. The Deputy has asked specific questions. The reference to quarter 3 of this year and a timeline of 2027 are the only details I have at the moment, I am afraid.

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