New elective hospital for Cork would operate just six days per week, 50 weeks of the year

The plans have been criticised for failing to address the needs for modern new healthcare facilities for the Munster region

The draft plans for a major new hospital in Cork would not fully or properly replace existing facilities such as the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, according to TD Colm Burke. File Picture: Dan Linehan

Emerging plans for a major new hospital in Cork look like a watered-down version of what's needed, it has been claimed.

Draft service model plans for the facility, seen by the Irish Examiner, show how the proposed hospital would operate just six days a week and for 50 weeks of the year.

Cork North-Central Fine Gael TD, Colm Burke, who sits on the board of the South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital (SIVUH), said the proposal does little to address the healthcare needs of the region, and does not take into account the “dire need” to replace the more dated city hospitals, such as the SIVUH, parts of which date back to the 1700s.

Cork North-Central TD Colm Burke says the draft Sláintecaire plans do not do much to address current or future healthcare needs in Cork. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

“For decades now, we have been calling for a second hospital that would concentrate on elective work, with inpatients as well as outpatients,” Mr Burke said.

“And we have wanted a new hospital that is open seven days a week, all round the year. 

In a pandemic, it is hard to ensure social distancing and isolation on cramped wards in our older hospitals. 

The bottom line is we need more modern facilities in Cork, not just for our healthcare needs now, but for future generations.

“The draft Sláintecare plan for an elective hospital in Cork does not, it would appear, do much to address these needs.” 

It follows a briefing of the South/Southwest Hospital Group (SSWHG) by the Elective Hospitals Oversight Group (EHOG), the body which was set up in 2019 to advise on sites for three new elective hospitals — in Cork, Galway and Dublin — as part of the 10-year Sláintecare plan.

Planning is continuing

While a site for the Cork hospital has yet to be announced, the EHOG outlined their advanced “planning and scoping work” and its proposed model of care.

However, SSWHG chiefs said the model “does not cover all the needs” of the hospital group.

They asked about opportunities to widen the scope of the model to include all outpatients and inpatient electives, and if a more complex elective facility could be considered, given the ongoing challenges with the infrastructure at the Mercy University Hospital and SIVUH.

In statements last night, the Department of Health and the SSWHG welcomed the recent engagement with the EHOG and noted “the opportunities for significant synergies”.

They said they have “commenced the process for discussing synergies” and meetings are being scheduled to discuss this.