Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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19. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 38 of 2 May 2024, to provide an update on the SAR/PBC by the project team and the Galway University Hospital’s capital programme oversight board for the new emergency department, women and children’s block in UHG; the timeline for when it is expected to move to pre-tender stage; to provide an update on the master plan for the UGH campus; the timeline for when it is expected to be completed and published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25538/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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There are a number of significant capital investment projects proposed for the University Hospital Galway (UHG) campus, which will provide state of the art facilities at UHG. These include a new Emergency Department, Women and Children’s Block, a Regional Cancer Centre, and replacement laboratories.

Due to the significant scale and complexity of these projects, a programmatic approach is necessary to ensure the continued delivery of healthcare on the busy and congested hospital campus. To achieve this, a Capital Programme Oversight Board, established by Saolta, has been tasked with developing an integrated, strategic master plan for UHG.

This Board has met eight times and is in the process of appointing a Programme Manager. A Design Team, supported by a Health Planner, is carrying out work on the strategic master plan.

The Strategic Assessment Report for the Emergency Department, Women and Children’s Block has been reviewed by my Department and has been returned to the HSE with feedback. It will now be subsumed into a Strategic Assessment Report/Preliminary Case (SAR/PBC), a document which Saolta’s Oversight Board will be developing into a more integrated and strategic plan aligned to the wider campus master planning.

This will ensure that the much-needed capital investment will address population demand, integrated service capacity needs and will ensure that delivery is achievable, affordable and represents value for money.