‘Hospital in the home’ plan gets Council approval

Galway City Council has given the go-ahead for the VHI to roll out its new homecare service here.

The HomeCare service, dubbed ‘hospital in the home’, will be the first of its kind outside of the east coast of Ireland.

The service, which is consultant-led, allows suitable patients leave hospital earlier and continue certain treatments in the own home under the care of VHI nurses and doctors.

It allows treatments such as the administration of IV antibiotics in the home, rather than having to be admitted to hospital.

The centre, which will be located in the Tornóg development in Ballinfoile, will create 16 jobs – doctors, nurses and office staff.

CWC Developments Tornóg Ltd had sought permission for a change of use of two units in the commercial element of the development to a HomeCare Centre.

According to the application: “The planning application relates to the development of a VHI HomeCare Centre to provide the necessary back-up infrastructure to roll out various homecare packages in the Galway region, as have been provided in other parts of the country for a number of years.

“This will involve a considerable level of employment in the premises, in the order of 16 medical (doctors, nurses and clinical nurse managers) and non-medical (primarily roles in the HomeCare logistics team) roles,” the application reads.

CWC – which is headed-up by property developer Michael Maye and London-based corporate financier John Mackay – also plans to complete the residential element of the development. The company purchased the entire site in 2014.

To date, 66 residential units have been completed, and planning permission exists for a total of 137 homes.

“It is anticipated that the remainder of the overall site that has not been developed to date would ultimately be developed for residential accommodation,” the developers told the Council.