Hospital prefabs to cope with winter demand

Prefab accommodation may be used by the HSE to deal with increased demand on hospitals over the winter period writes Niall Murray and Joyce Fegan.

The prefabs would be used in the event of extra capacity being needed at acute hospitals over the coming months.

“Rapid installation” and units of a “high specification” are required for this alternative in-patient accommodation.

“Given the experience of previous winters in terms of insufficient capacity to meet inpatient demand, it is recognised that there are some acute hospitals where an option such as temporary alternative inpatient accommodation may provide an interim solution and optimise ‘patient flow’ at times of increased demand, ie temporary modular inpatient accommodation that can be installed and removed when no longer required, with no ongoing costs incurred by the HSE,” reads the tender.

In response to a query from the Irish Examiner, the HSE said they are only scoping out the possibility of it at the moment and that it is not explicitly a part of the ‘winter initiative’.

“The HSE has issued an invitation to tender to develop a framework for temporary alternative hospital/healthcare accommodation at existing acute hospital sites. This framework will be used to draw on in the event that extra capacity will be required at any of the acute hospital sites over the winter period,” a spokesperson from the HSE said.

“While not part of the winter initiative plan, the invitation to tender has been issued to scope what type of alternative accommodation is available on the market,” added the spokesperson.

The HSE published details of its winter initiative on September 9; however, there was no mention of rapid installation modular accommodation in the plan.

The winter initiative aims to address the anticipated surge in activity.

In the tender, the HSE has asked for a framework for single en-suite and multi-bed (four-bed) rooms with standard bathrooms and showers.

It added that the accommodation would be designated for a specific cohort of patients. These would include mobile patients requiring a short stay or a predicted date of discharge.

Other examples of patients suitable for temporary accommodation include people with broken ankles or wrists, those on a five- day course of antibiotics and people awaiting test results.

The units would include a social space for patients to relax in, as well as a nurse’s station and a family room.

“It is envisaged that accommodation will be required in the range of 10 to 60 beds at individual sites,” reads the tender.

The HSE has set November 15, as the final date for responses to the tender for the framework plan.

This article first appeared in the Irish Examiner.