PLANS have been announced for the immediate development of increased bed capacity at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), but the provision of a new hospital to service the Mid West, including a second emergency department for the region, may be at least another decade or more away.
That’s according to Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, who announced that she is to accept all three recommendations from health watchdog HIQA’s September report into emergency healthcare and the overcrowding crisis in the Mid West.
HIQA’s three proposals included the expansion on-site at UHL (Option A) and off-site at a location nearby (Option B), as well as the development of a new Model 3 hospital for the Mid West with an emergency department (Option C).
HIQA recommended in September that Options A and B would reduce chronic capacity shortage within a shorter period of time, while Option C was a longer-term solution.
Speaking this week on RTÉ News At One, the Minister said she will progress with all three options.
Plans under Option A will involve the construction of a new facility at UHL’s Dooradoyle campus.
Planning for a second 96-bed block was granted in October with works already underway, and further capital works to follow.
Included in plans for Option A, an additional 66 beds on site are planned, with another 16 beds elsewhere, the Minister confirmed.
To achieve this, a number of services at the hospital will be moved off-site to reduce the number of scheduled procedures taking place at UHL.
“We will deliver extra beds, but at the same time we are also trying to remove services from Dooradoyle that don’t need to be there,” the Minister said.
Plans are currently underway to provide an outpatient urology surgical hub in Newcastle West which, according to the Minister, is expected to remove up to 10,000 scheduled procedures from UHL.
Construction on the surgical hub is currently underway, with a slated 2026 opening date.
Plans for Option B, which involves the construction of a second site in close proximity to UHL under a shared governance and resourcing model, are also underway, the Minister revealed.
Ms Carroll MacNeill has confirmed she has mandated the HSE to secure a suitable site which may also have “flexibility” when discussing a second hospital for the region (Option C).
A memo to government with further details on these plans will be delivered in 2026.
The Minister was tightlipped when asked whether a potential site had been identified for Option B, saying that while there is “ongoing work by the HSE”, she could not reveal any more details due to “any commercially sensitive implications” for the site.
When discussing plans for a new hospital and emergency department for the region, the Minister said: “There is no question that the Mid West needs another hospital facility at scale and we will be examining this as we moved ahead with the purchase of a site.”
However the region may have to wait for another 10 to 15 years until this can be delivered, while Options A and B are delivered in the meantime.
The Health Minister also acknowledged “the pain and concern that people of the Mid West have had in relation to the available healthcare services”.
Later in RTÉ’s programme, Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea called on the Minister to confirm whether or not a suitable site for Option A and B had been secured.
“I know what the Minister said about commercial sensitivity, but I don’t think commercial sensitivity is going to be affected in any way by just telling us if a site has been acquired,” Deputy O’Dea said.
“I’m not aware of any site that has been specifically earmarked by the HSE, but I am aware of several potential sites, places that I would identify as suitable sites, which wouldn’t be very far from the hospital. There is quite a lot of land in the fairly immediate vicinity of the hospital.”
Mr O’Dea said it was his interpretation that the new building identified under Option B would be converted into a model three hospital, including an emergency department in Limerick as part of plans under Option C.
Limerick Labour TD Conor Sheehan says he “cautiously welcomes” the news, also claiming that “it is very clear from what the Minister said that Option B must ultimately become Option C”.
He said there was no clarity around when a new hospital and emergency department for the region would be delivered.
“What we need to see now is urgent action to implement this decision. This is a key test both for government’s new infrastructure plan and for the Department of Public Expenditure as to whether it will be the enabler or blocker of this decision,” he said, adding that “the HSE must move at pace to secure land as a matter of urgency”.
Limerick Mayor John Moran also welcomed the news and said that he looks forward to “meaningful consultation with the Minister and officials before any decisions are finalised”, adding that “given the urgency of addressing public health capacity in Limerick, I hope to shortly see clarity on indicative timelines for these next steps so that local authorities and communities can plan accordingly”.