New HSE Mid West hospital plan 'must progress without delay'

Doctors and trade unions welcome the commitment to build on the Raheen 44-acre site, and say momentum must continue now

Consultant and UHL medical board member Joe Devlin welcomed the commitment in purchasing the Raheen site. Stock picture: Dan Linehan

Pace and speed are now needed to ensure plans to build a new hospital for HSE Mid West are not delayed, doctors and trade unions have said.

A 44-acre site in the Raheen area was announced on Tuesday by health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. 

The only timeline given was for a project board to be set up and report by the autumn.

Dr Joe Devlin, a consultant and member of the University Hospital Limerick (UHL) medical board, said it welcomes the commitment in purchasing the site. "We can see it’s a huge site," he said.

There has been “a huge gap” in healthcare locally, he said, based on historic underfunding and shortages of beds.

“It’s fantastic to see a site purchased with the potential to greatly upscale the amount of facility that we have,” he said.

However, he cautioned: “There would be anxiety in the Mid West about the progress of it, and that it keeps moving along.

“Now that we have the site, the focus is now going to shift to what pace services can be opened on the new site, and what can be safely opened there.

“And really, the final step in that process — and I’m totally confident this will happen — is the move of critical care and the emergency department to that site."

Plans for developing the site are not yet laid out, but Mr Devlin noted: "If it has its emergency department, then it's a Model 4 hospital. We wouldn't site two emergency departments within 2km of each other, that makes no sense at all. 

"So an emergency department on this new site would mean there is not an emergency department on the Dooradoyle site." 

'Future-proofing' healthcare 

He acknowledged no concrete plans have been made, but indicated "that can be the only reason in my view for such a large site being purchased".

"It is future-proofing," he said.

The project board will play a key role in how quickly these plans progress. This should be led by people “managing and responsible for healthcare in the Mid West”, he said.

It will be “an enormously complex task”, he said, adding that Sandra Broderick, as the HSE regional executive officer, should lead the board. 

If this happens, he said, “then we have the basis for a much improved future.” 

He lives in Tipperary and acknowledged concerns there, and in Clare, that the hospital is going to Limerick.

“I think this is good news for people in north Tipperary and for Clare,” he said, however.

“It means that when they’re ill enough to need a bed in a Model 4 hospital, there’s going to be one available.” 

Siptu welcomes plan  

Trade union Siptu gave the news a “cautious welcome” but echoed concerns around timing.

Sector organiser Deirdre Canty said it is “an important step” towards addressing shortages of beds and other care, as well as the growing demand from patients.

However, she said it has “serious concerns” around how long it will take to complete the new hospital, especially in the face of “escalating pressures” at UHL.

“It does not address the immediate risks to service safety posed by overcrowding, staffing shortages, and the increasing reliance on temporary and outsourced arrangements,” she warned.

• Niamh Griffin, Health Correspondent