No sign of progress on new Emergency Department in Galway

There’s still no clarity as to when a replacement for University Hospital Galway’s Emergency Department will be built – five years on from then-Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s declaration that was ‘not fit for purpose’.

HSE West Regional Health Forum members have been told that it will be at least a number of years before the new Emergency Department is built at the city hospital.

Neither Ann Cosgrove, COO of Saolta Group, nor Tony Canavan, CEO of Saolta could give a timeline for when the planning application for the new ED would be submitted.

City Councillor John Connolly (FF) said the term ‘interim ED’, which will be used until the new ED is constructed “fills me with dread”.

“I’d be extremely concerned how long this interim will last,” he said.

Mr Canavan said that the new ED is part of a wider project at UHG, which includes the development of a new block at the hospital with new departments for women and children on upper floors and emergency care on the ground floor.

It was the largest ever hospital project in the West of Ireland, was complex and would take time to design and get approval before planning application can be submitted.

Cllr Connolly said that the project appears to be very complex, and the public was frustrated that more progress hadn’t been made on it.

He said it appeared to him that there is no change in the project since last autumn, despite a media report suggesting that a ‘high level meeting’ had taken place recently to push it forward.

“It’s very concerning; Enda Kenny said it was a priority when he was in Government,” said Cllr Connolly.

Ms Cosgrove said that the project design and business case for the full project would be submitted later this year. An exact timeframe for when the planning application will be submitted will only be determined after it’s approved.

She said work has started on the interim ED, which will be needed while the new one is being built. This ‘interim’ ED will be in operation for a “number of years”, she conceded.