Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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30. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to fit out the empty surgical day ward at Roscommon University Hospital; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16901/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Roscommon University Hospital currently has a 12 bed Surgical Day Ward, which is co-located with a medical inpatient ward. It is proposed to relocate the Surgical Day ward in an area adjacent to the Operating Theatre and Endoscopy Unit. As part of this proposal, it is planned that the vacated surgical day ward area in its current location would be used to increase medical inpatient beds. A plan for this is currently under review by HSE Estates before progressing to the design team phase, and this will be progressed in 2023.

The Government is committed to the ongoing development of regional hospitals, and there has been significant additional investment in staffing at RUH in recent years, with a 37.9% increase in staffing numbers since 2018. This includes an additional 72 nurses and midwives. As at February 2023, over 436 staff were employed at RUH. The budget allocation for RUH in 2023 is €31.1 million, an increase of 15.6% from 2018.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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31. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 129 of 16 February 2023, the status of the review by his Department of the Strategic Assessment Report for the new emergency department in University Hospital Galway; if the SAR examination has been completed to date; if the SAR has been submitted to the Department of Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform for review; the expected timeline for the proposal to be developed into a Preliminary Business Case; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17292/23]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to confirm that the Strategic Assessment Report reviews by my Department and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Review and Reform, for the proposed Emergency Department, Women & Children’s block at UHG, have been completed.

On 29 March 2023, Minister O’Donohoe updated and shortened the Public Spending Code for capital investments. The SAR stage has now been subsumed into a single SAR/Preliminary Business Case (PBC) document.

Since the SAR review for the Galway proposal has already been completed, the output of the reviews will be shared with the HSE to ensure that the new SAR/PBC is as robust as possible.

The HSE has undertaken work in parallel to the SAR to support the expedient development of the PBC and is now considering the implications of the recent PSC changes.

The timeline for the completion of the SAR/PBC cannot yet be estimated as the outputs of the SAR review and PSC changes will have to be incorporated by the HSE.

When the new SAR/PBC is finalised it will be subject to further review and Government consent before it can proceed to the pre-tender stage.

These welcome PSC reforms can have a positive impact on the timeline for major capital projects, including this project at UHG, to proceed through the stages of the project life cycle in a timely and efficient manner.