Update on plans for new facility to tackle overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick

A RECOMMENDATION has been sent to HSE management for a particular site for a new hospital facility to ease overcrowding at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), local TD Willie O’Dea has said.

Extending the UHL campus on another site adjacent to or close to UHL is one of the recommendations in a report from the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) aimed at addressing long waiting times at the hospital in Dooradoyle.

“I received information from the Minister for Health and the HSE to inform me that as regards acquiring a site, a shortlist of sites has been drawn up and a recommendation for a particular site has been sent to HSE management,” said Mr O’Dea.

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It’s understood three sites were identified, and the Fianna Fail TD said he would be “95% sure” the one earmarked by bosses locally would be one which Government settles on.

In response to a query from Limerick Live, an HSE spokesperson said the health service is “actively working to secure a suitable site” in line with HIQA’s recommendations.

Mr O’Dea plans to push Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill for answers this week.

“I will put a question in. I expect the site will be selected over the next couple of weeks,” he told Limerick Live.

“It’s going to be absolutely critical. For decades, in terms of hospital beds per population, the Mid-West has lagged behind the rest of the country. This is a huge effort to bring the Mid-West in line with the rest of the country.”

Last September, HIQA identified three potential options for ministerial consideration on how best to address current inpatient bed capacity deficits in the Mid-West.

The three options identified were: Option A – expand capacity at UHL on the Dooradoyle site; Option B – extend the UHL hospital campus to comprise the existing Dooradoyle site and another site, in close proximity to UHL, to support the delivery of healthcare services under a single governance; and Option C – develop a Model 3 hospital in the HSE Mid West, providing a second ED for the region.

In December, the Minister for Health received Government approval to progress with a blend of the proposed HIQA options.
According to sources, the preference locally would be that the extended hospital campus (Option B) and the new hospital (Option C) would be built on the same site in close proximity to UHL.

Mr O’Dea has pledged to meet with council planning officials once a decision is made on the new site.

“I’ll be keeping the pressure on. The very minute the site is selected and planning is submitted, I will be arranging a meeting with the chief planning officer. We will be asking council to expedite the planning process,” he said.