No plans for a dedicated surgical hub in the midlands

The Department of Health has no plans to open a dedicated surgical hub to serve the midlands, but is “open to suggestion” on how best to achieve additional elective capacity across the triangle of hospitals in the region located in Tullamore, Portlaoise and Mullingar.

While Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill acknowledged in the Dáil last week that more elective capacity in the midlands “is necessary”, she said there are different ways of achieving that and she has started an “expression of interest” process to ascertain how best to proceed.

“While we are not considering a surgical hub model as such – we have enough work to do to get Sligo and Letterkenny ahead – that does not mean there are not different ways of achieving additional elective capacity” the Minister said.

The Health Minister was responding to a question from Offaly Fine Gael TD, John Clendennen, who sought an update on what analysis or action plan is being considered in terms of additional healthcare capacity in Offaly and the midlands, particularly in relation to elective capacity.

Deputy Clendennen told the Dail that patients and carers are travelling to “every corner of the country rather than the midlands for surgery and medical care” and said the provision of “a new modern facility” in the region would take “a demand pressure” off the three hospitals, including Tullamore. He also added that it would assist in providing “better care and local care” and would ease congestion on the roads and on hospitals in Dublin, which people from the midlands have had to attend for so long.

The Offaly deputy said Tullamore is “best placed” to provide an elective care facility and described the performance ratings for the hospital's emergency department as “outstanding” with patients “seldom being left on trolleys” However, he pointed out that these favourable performance ratings are “coming at the cost of elective care.”

Minister Carroll MacNeill complimented the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore and its “excellent manager, Louisea Burke” on the delivery of “consistently predictable urgent and emergency care” but acknowledged that the hospital itself, and the midlands generally, is in need of more elective capacity., While the hospital is within the South Dublin surgical hub, which is connected to St. James's Hospital, the Minister said “that is a busy hub already” and there is “a need to reflect on rthe balance of that provided throughout the midlands.”

The Health Minister said it was her belief that the “triangle of hospitals” in Tullamore, Portlaoise and Mullingar “can offer a situation of exceptionally good elective work” by working together and she said the HSE is undertaking an analysis to consider “potential options” for new or additional capacity, including the area of elective care.

The HSE is currently in the process of opening six surgical hubs across the country, two of which are located in Dublin - one in the south Dublin region and one in Swords on the north side of the city. The other four are located in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. Each of the six hubs, some of which are already operational, plan to deliver 10,000 day case surgeries and minor procedures, and 18,500 outpatient consultations annually.

A surgical hub model is a dedicated, often off-site, clinical facility designed specifically for high-volume, low-complexity, and ambulatory day-case procedures. These hubs are ringfenced to prevent disruption from emergency care, allowing them to focus on reducing waiting lists