HOPES of building a new hospital in Clare have been brought back to life with the Minister for Health confirming the Mid-West will have a new hospital built within the next ten to fifteen years.
Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (FG) announced shortly after 1pm on Tuesday that all three Options from the HIQA review will be implemented to improve access to emergency health services in the Mid-West region.
HIQA’s long-awaited review which was published at the end of September listed three options following its analysis of emergency health care in the Mid-West. Option A is expanding capacity at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), Option B is extending the UHL campus with a new second site in close proximity under a shared governance and resourcing model, Option C is the construction of a new hospital in the Mid-West with a second emergency department. “It is my intention to progress all three options together, immediately with Option A and B, recognising Option C is a medium-term solution,” the Minister confirmed.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One’s News at One, the Minister refused to be drawn on whether the site of this new hospital would be located in Clare, Limerick or Tipperary. “You’re asking me questions which have commercial implications, it is taxpayer’s money that will be spent to build this hospital,” she stated in response to questions from Rachael English.
She said this was a medium to long-term project which could be completed within the next ten to fifteen years. The Minister stated, “Over the period of the next ten to fifteen years there is no question the Mid-West needs another hospital facility at scale, we will be examining that with the purchase of site and flexibility of how we deliver Option C”. She said further conversations need to take place with colleagues at Cabinet and clinicians, “I’ve gone a bit ahead of the HIQA advice to progress all three options”.
No specifics were provided by the Minister on whether Option B would be located in Limerick City or within South Clare. “You’ll forgive me for not going further on something which might have potential price implication”.
Director of Service for Planning, Economic, Rural and Community Development with Clare County Council, Jason Murphy last week confirmed that a host of “various sites” have been flagged to the HSE by the local authority as potential locations for a new hospital in the county.
When asked if these sites have been factored into the decision, Minister Carroll MacNeill stated, “With every respect, I cannot get into discussions on site selection because it will have an impact on the price, we have decided to progress Option A and B, I’ve mandated the HSE to get a site which is suitable for B. I have to go and get an appropriate site, the HSE has to get an appropriate site”.
Planning permission has been secured for a second 96 bed block at UHL “which is going to tender very shortly,” she outlined. Capacity exists for additional 66 and 16 bed blocks, the Minister said. “I am also very conscious on how much the population has grown in the region and how much we want it to continue to grow”.
Space is currently tight at UHL which has limited the expansion plans in Dooradoyle. “We can’t double the size of the hospital on the site so we have to look at broader and appropriate sites in the region, we will discuss this with clinicians, we know from our experience that more outpatient clinics can move out from UHL”.
Pain experienced by the people of the Mid-West in attempting to access health services was acknowledged by Minister Carroll MacNeill. The immediate focus is progressing in-patient beds at UHL’s site in Dooradoyle, she said.
Option B will also lead to the creation of an additional hospital, she confirmed. “The ability to get parking is appalling” at UHL, the Minister noted. “We will deliver extra beds but we’re trying to remove services that don’t need to be there”. As part of this removal of services, 10,000 procedures per annum will be removed from UHL and will instead be carried out at a surgical hub. “The scheduled procedures that don’t need to be in acute hospital which should be for very sick people or people who have experienced trauma”.
Creating surgical hubs is “totally appropriate,” she insisted and said it would open in 2026. “Elective work is often cancelled when an acute hospital is under pressure, it is also appropriate that people shouldn’t have to travel a distance as far to Limerick. This approach will also coincide with the expansion of dialysis services in Ennis in 2026. The Minister said she wanted to see better cancer treatment delivered locally in the Mid-West.
