Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There are several significant capital investment projects proposed for the University Hospital Galway Campus, including the Replacement Laboratories, Emergency Department (ED) Women & Children’s Block, a Regional Cancer Centre, a new Elective Hospital and a Surgical Hub.

In September 2023, Saolta established a Galway University Hospital (GUH) Capital Programme Oversight Board to develop an integrated master plan to support the phased delivery of capital investment at GUH. This board is currently in the process of preparing a detailed, robust and comprehensive master plan.

Emergency Dept, Women & Children’s Block

In relation to the Emergency Department, Women’s and Children’s block, the Department of Health carried out a review of the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) for proposal and returned it with feedback to the HSE in June 2023.

The findings of this review were incorporated into a SAR/Preliminary Business Case (PBC) which was approved and then submitted by the HSE to the Department of Health for review in November 2023.

In line with the requirements of the new Infrastructure Guidelines which have replaced the Public Spending Code, this SAR/PBC must be subject to a Departmental review (which is currently ongoing), an external assurance process, and presentation to D/PENDPDR’s Major Project Advisory Group. The timeframe for this process is dictated by the outcome of the findings from each review, alongside consideration of the project within the integrated masterplan under development.

Replacement Laboratories and Regional Cancer Centre

The Strategic Assessment Reports for the Regional Cancer Centre proposals and the Replacement Laboratories are in the final stages of review by the Department of Health, whilst the SAR/PBCs are in development in parallel, in line with the new SAR/PBC approach under the new Infrastructure Guidelines. Progression of these proposals will be in line with the overall master planning process.

Elective Hospital and Surgical Hub

Significant additional capacity to better enable the separation of scheduled and unscheduled care will be provided through a national network of dedicated, standalone Elective Hospitals. The Preliminary Business Case, approved by Government in December 2022, identified Merlin Park as the preferred site for a new Elective Hospital in Galway. Since that approval, the HSE has been progressing its plans, defining the shape and scale of the new hospitals as well as progressing procurement, ICT and workforce planning. The HSE is also progressing the procurement of an integrated Design Team to provide the full scope of design services for the Elective Hospitals.

The HSE is also addressing waiting lists in the shorter term by expediting the development of ‘Surgical Hubs’ at locations across the country. Planning permission for the Galway Surgical Hub at Merlin Park has been granted and the procurement process for a construction contractor is in final stages.