Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Burke.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I welcome the Minister of State. A total of €35 million has been given to Portiuncula University Hospital for the provision of a 50-bed unit. The facility, which was opened on 11 September by the Taoiseach, will transform patient care. It is a crucial development. In 2019, I brought a clinical delegation from the hospital to Leinster House to meet with the now Taoiseach and then Minister for Health, Simon Harris, to fight for this. It should have happened ten years ago. A great deal of other investment in the hospital should have already happened and that must happen now.

This development is so welcome. It will ensure we have more capacity within the hospital. It is an acute level 3 hospital operating on a 24-7 basis. It is the maternity hospital for the region. It is a training hospital with multiple medical academies that is working in co-operation with the University of Limerick and the University of Galway. The two 25-bed wards, the Orchard and Garbally wards, have just opened. On his visit to Ballinasloe, the Taoiseach spoke about the investment in Portiuncula University Hospital. He spoke about how it is more than just a hospital but is also a community in the town and for the surrounding areas. He spoke about the extension of day services, oncology services and the funding delivered for the sterile support department and the new ambulatory gynaecology unit, which is due to open shortly.He acknowledged the conversion of the outpatients department, which was done after the Covid pandemic. Before the pandemic, we had 13 single rooms in that hospital. As a result of the work by the clinical team there, the outpatients department was converted to the Dunlo suite and doubled the availability of single rooms. We have seen the expansion of minor operations and plastic surgery; the new nurse-led infusion unit; the opening of the Willow suite, which is the protected space for bereaved families in the maternity unit; and a brand-new advanced nurse practitioner take up her position in Portiuncula University Hospital.

Two years ago, I advocated strongly with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, that we should have additional treatment bays in our emergency department, which has seen zero investment or work over the past decade to two decades. This is at design stage, and I am very grateful for the work that has been done in the Department of Health to progress it, but I know we see significant waiting lists and people on trolleys. This happens, of course, coming into every winter, but we have seen huge episodes also over the summer, when there are spikes.

Today, we will hear about our budget and allocations to each Department. Fine Gael in government will deliver one of the largest budgets in health, and I know the Minister of State will welcome that. I want to see an update here on the timeline for the construction stage and capital expenditure for the nine treatment bays in the emergency department. I want to know what is happening with the multi-bed ward blocks. We have moved and will be moving patients out of those ward blocks and into the 50-bed unit. What will we do now? How will we renovate those multi-bed blocks that are in the middle of the hospital and that could be used for so many other roles and positions?

Staffing is always one of the key issues that is brought up when it comes to our hospitals. We see that the challenges around recruitment are being lifted and that there is more availability. There is, however, more administrative sign-off and there are various approvals and different stages relating to the recruitment process. The latter make the recruitment process in a hospital healthcare network that is mammoth even longer. Our student nurses need clinical placements. We need to make sure we have the people in place in our hospitals to provide those clinical placements in order that we can bring in more students and student nurses, particularly into our specialties.

We know that maternity leave has been a big issue. When I speak here about capital expenditure, I am bringing in something around staffing. Maternity leave, when it happens, is causing huge challenges around replacements for maternity leave.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank Senator Dolan for raising this matter. I am very familiar with Portiuncula Hospital because a member of my family worked there for 12 months a number of years ago. Unfortunately, at the time they were working there, they worked 136 hours in one week-----

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Incredible.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

-----and were on call for 76 hours the following week. The whole junior doctor system has changed since then, thankfully. That is very much welcome. I thank the Senator for raising the issue of capital expenditure for Portiuncula University Hospital in the Seanad and I welcome the opportunity to update the House on this important facility in our health service.

The Government and the Minister for Health are committed to the ongoing development of regional hospitals such as Portiuncula University Hospital. This Government has allocated significant resources in order to meet the needs of patients using the hospital.

Staffing at the hospital has grown by 228 since January 2020 - from 843 to 1,092 in 2024. That represents an increase in staff of 27%. I pay tribute to Senator Dolan for the work she has done in getting a number of projects through. Since 2022, this increase includes 37 more nurses and midwives, 13 more medical and dental staff and ten more patient care staff, as well as three more health and social care professionals.

In 2020, Portiuncula had a budget of €83 million. In April 2024, the budget was €126 million. This means that the hospital's budget grown by €43 million. That is an increase of 51% in just four years.

Under the acute bed expansion plan, 16 new beds will be delivered at Portiuncula University Hospital over the course of the next four years. Ten of the new beds were opened in tandem with the opening of the 50-bed ward block to which the Senator referred in September. These ten beds will be enhanced by a further six new beds that will be provided between this year and 2028.

The HSE is developing extra capacity of nine treatment bays in the emergency department, and funding of €6.9 million has been allocated for this project to date.The design team was appointed in early 2024 following a competitive tender process. They are developing a preliminary design and outline design scheme to meet the project brief. The target completion date for the project is 2027, as this is a complex project.

The nine additional treatment bays will be included in the current building footprint and will allow the hospital to re-establish an acute medicine assessment unit. This development will stream patients from the ED and allow the frailty team to operate more efficiently.

Just last month, the Taoiseach visited Portiuncula University Hospital to officially open the Orchard and Garbally wards. These new ward blocks comprise 25 single rooms with en suite facilities and will start accommodating patients in the coming weeks.

The new ward blocks facilitate the transfer of two existing outdated wards from the main hospital building. The design and layout of the new wards will deliver a patient-centred approach and improve patient experience, particularly for those requiring end-of-life care. Single room accommodation will also reduce patient exposure to possible infections while in hospital. By improving the patient’s journey, these new wards will reduce length of stay and reduce the number of inhouse patient transfers between wards. The old, multi-bedded ward blocks will now be reconfigured to provide additional capacity in addition to providing extra space for the acute medical assessment unit and oncology day ward.

The HSE is responsible for staffing and recruitment and the staffing of new capital developments is facilitated by the Estimates process that occurs annually. The HSE has confirmed that staff and funding has been approved, and recruitment is currently in progress.

In addition to these projects, there has been a range of recent developments at the hospital including the expansion of minor operations in plastic surgery in 2023; a new nurse-led infusion unit opened in March 2023; and the opening of the Willow Suite, to provide a protected space for bereaved families in the maternity unit. These projects, along with the future planned works, speak to the high level of investment this Government has put into Portiuncula University Hospital, and will continue to invest for the benefit of patients.

In conclusion, I thank the Senator for the work that she has done in highlighting the issues and bringing them to a successful conclusion.

Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State. I appreciate his personal connection as his wife, Dr. Mary McCaffrey, is an obstetrician. He is very much aware of the hospital and how it dates back to the 1940s. This has been an incredible investment which I want to acknowledge. I refer to the numbers that he has mentioned here whereby there has been a more than 50% increase in budget to €126 million. That is an incredible increase but it just shows that was so overdue. We now have over 1,000 people working in our hospital. We have excellent healthcare staff who work to the highest standards but, again, they work in facilities that date back to the 1940s. This new 50-bed block has been an absolute wonder and will transform patient care for nearly five counties and a catchment area of nearly 400,000 people.

Again, I wish to refer to the ED and I see that the timeline is 2027. There are people who are on trolleys; we have paediatrics who do not have enough space or capacity within our hospital; and in 2023 there were 30,000 admissions to our ED of which 6,000 admissions were for paediatrics. There is no space for triage when it comes to paediatrics in Portiuncula hospital. I say to the Minister of State that we need this faster, we need an acceleration and I need his support on this.

Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I fully agree with the Senator. We have a growing population in every area of the country and it is important that we respond accordingly.

Portiuncula University Hospital, serving the people of Galway, Roscommon and the west midlands, has a reputation for the delivery of high-quality, innovative and safe care to patients. This Government is committed to the ongoing development of Portiuncula University Hospital and the hospital is in the midst of a programme of investment designed to improve services for patients.

The new Orchard and Garbally ward blocks are a €35 million investment, comprising single suite rooms that will improve patient experience and infection control. These have replaced old wards which will now be replaced by expanding the emergency department at an additional investment of €6.9 million. The capital investment discussed today is part of a much wider programme of investment and service expansion in Portiuncula University Hospital.Funding has been allocated for the design and upgrade to relocate the hospital sterile supplies department, which covers both Portiuncula University Hospital and Roscommon University Hospital. In the area of cancer control, the oncology service is commencing extended day services and is providing an additional treatment base, along with a third visiting consultant oncologist.

I am delighted to note that the national women and infants programme has agreed to fund a new ambulatory gynaecology unit in Portiuncula University Hospital. This service will create theatre capacity for patients requiring general anaesthetic, allowing the hospital to increase activity across specialties.

I again thank the Senator for the work she has done. The issue of hospitals is complex. We need the funding and it is being provided to Portiuncula University Hospital. As the Senator identified, there is a growing population and increasing demands, and we must, therefore, respond accordingly.

Martin Conway (Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I thank the Minister of State for giving up his time to come to the Seanad. We hope he has achieved what he set out to achieve during the budget negotiations. All will be revealed this afternoon.