Delay to Mayo hospital plan to tackle overcrowding
A PROPOSED two-storey extension to help deal with overcrowding at Mayo University Hospital is being 'reviewed' due to complications, it has been revealed.
The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Jim Daly, said the development is 'subject to further definition in the coming months'.
His expectation is that his department will be in a position to make progress with the project in 2020, subject to funding availability and overall project prioritisation in 2020.
The plan is for the additional space to be built on the second floor of the 331-bed Castlebar facility.
He stated: “This is a complicated project addressing a number of separate, if related, issues in different parts of the hospital. The project is being reviewed.
“It is expected to be progressed in 2020 as two separate projects - one addressing additional capacity and the other focusing on the emergency department and the medical assessment unit.
“All capital development proposals, including capital developments at Mayo University Hospital, must progress through detailed appraisal, planning and design, procurement, construction and commissioning stages before a firm time-line or funding requirement can be established.”
He confirmed a number of capital projects at Mayo University Hospital are progressing and are at various stages of development.
This includes electrical upgrade works, fire response improvements and a mortuary upgrade.
A proposal has been developed to provide a new multi-storey block extension in the courtyard area of the hospital.
This block would facilitate an extension at ground level to increase the size of the accident and emergency department and provide space for the medical assessment unit. It would also provide space at second floor level for a new 12-bed ward.
Mayo Senator Michelle Mulherin called on the department 'to get down to the nuts and bolts of designing this extension'.
She stated: “The Minister of State has pointed out the complexities of it but it has been well appraised. We need it. We needed it yesterday. I am mindful of the constraints on capital expenditure that existed in the past.
“The blockages in Mayo University Hospital are having an impact on University Hospital Galway. Patients, especially oncology patients, need to be discharged, released or transferred to Mayo University Hospital.
“If there is no capacity in Mayo, it blocks up the centre of excellence in Galway. It is a circular situation.
“We should have moved past the appraisal stage. We need to get on with it. We need to get the design going to overcome the complexities and to get a hospital that functions better than the hospital we have at the moment.”