Hospital emergency department ‘not fit for purpose’

THE Emergency Department of University Hospital Galway (UHG) is no longer compliant with infection prevention and control standards and needs to be replaced with a new purpose built unit, a top level report has recommended. The report, from the General Manager of Galway University Hospitals, also spells out that the Emergency Department (ED) at UHG ‘does not enable compliance with the Emergency Medicine Programme or Unscheduled Care Patient Experience targets. In her report, General Manager of the Hospitals Ann Cosgrove, outlines that a feasibility study is now being carried out on two options to replace the current ED – one costing €30 million and the other €60m. Option one involves the replacement of the current ED with a two storey building incorporating an Acute Medical Unit and an Acute Surgical Unit, costing a total of €30 million. The second, more ambitious option, is for a six storey building, that would include four shelled-out floors to be used as replacement accommodation for the Maternity Service into the future. According to Ann Cosgrove’s report, the cost benefit analysis on the two options is currently with the HSE’s National Capital Steering Group. “The replacement ED has incorporated capacity to meet the requirements of the Emergency Medicine Programme e.g. Clinical Decision Unit, and also includes capacity to meet the requirements of any future reconfiguration of services across the group,” she states. The report from the Hospitals General Manager was released to Labour Party TD, Derek Nolan, following a question he submitted to Health Minister, Leo Veradkar seeking an update on the ‘state of play’ as regards a new ED at UHG. “What this report spells out in no uncertain terms is that the ED of UHG is not fit for purpose. It really couldn’t have been put much clearer in the report – it is not satisfactory from the point of view of infection control, patient streaming or good practice in emergency medicine,” Deputy Nolan told Galway City Tribune. He said that this report made it crystal clear that the construction of a new ED unit at UHG was not an issue relating to value for money but was an absolute basic medical necessity. “We want the HSE to make a decision on this new unit as soon as possible and I certainly believe that the larger build would be the way to go, allowing for the expansion of the maternity services in the years to come.” For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.