Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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129. To ask the Minister for Health if he will commence the process of upgrading Letterkenny University Hospital to a Model 4 hospital, considering the very large number of inpatients that the hospital caters for each year and the distances that patients from Donegal have to travel to avail of appointments and procedures that are only available from the nearest Model 4 hospitals, hundreds of miles away. [25795/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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As Minister for Health, I am committed to the ongoing development of Letterkenny University Hospital. This Government has allocated significant resources to Letterkenny which will benefit patients:

• The hospital budget has increased from €157 million in 2020 to €196 million in 2024, this is a 25% increase in 4 years.
• Staffing at the hospital has grown by 437 since January 2020, an increase of 25%. This includes 30 more medical staff and 137 more nurses and midwives.
• Under our hospital bed expansion plan a total of 122 beds will be delivered at Letterkenny University Hospital by 2031. This includes 50 beds delivered between 2021-2024 and 72 beds between 2029-2031.
• The Report of the National Acute Medicine Programme (2010) defined four generic hospital models and delineated which services would be expected in each model and how patients would move between them. Letterkenny University Hospital is defined as a Model 3 hospital and it has a 24-hour Emergency Department, an Intensive Care Unit and additional speciality units.
• Model 4 Hospitals provide the same as Model 3 hospitals however would also be expected to have tertiary care for specialised services and these typically serve the population at a national level. University Hospital Galway (UHG) is designated as the Model 4 Tertiary Referral Hospital for the Saolta University Health Care Group.
• Models of care are in the first instance determined by the HSE including service delivery and design. Any amendments to the provision of care in Letterkenny University Hospital, including any expansion that would change the Model of Hospital, should be led by hospital group, based on service need.

Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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130. To ask the Minister for Health if he will ensure that an elective surgical hub is also located at Letterkenny, County Donegal, now that the HSE plans to locate one at Sligo, adjacent to another Model 3 hospital (Sligo University Hospital) with much lower number of inpatients per annum than Letterkenny University Hospital. [25796/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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In December 2022, the locations of 6 new Surgical Hubs were announced, following the success of the Reeves Day Surgery Unit at Tallaght University Hospital. The HSE is currently considering the feasibility of developing an additional Surgical Hub for the Northwest, and any decisions on this will be announced in due course. No further locations for Surgical Hubs are under consideration at this time.