Limerick welcomes Ireland's first new large hospital in almost 20 years

Around 45,000 annual discharges between in-patients and day procedures are expected at the  new Bons Secours Hospital Limerick, with another 100,000 attending for X-rays and out-patient care.

Small work groups and a tight focus on deadlines were key to opening the new Bon Secours Limerick hospital, the chief executive said while standing in a surgical theatre where fields once lay five years ago.

It is the first large hospital to open in Ireland in almost 20 years, offering scheduled operations and other options to a region struggling more than most with access to healthcare.