Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Health if he will consider the provision of an elective hospital in the mid-west area. [7773/22]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The Cross Party Sláintecare Report in 2017 articulated a new vision for healthcare in Ireland, including the provision of elective only hospitals, providing protected capacity for elective care. The “Elective Hospitals Oversight Group”, under the joint governance of the Health Service Executive, Department of Health and Sláintecare, has been guiding the development of the elective hospital proposals, following the process outlined in the updated Public Spending Code, setting out the value for money requirements for the evaluation, planning, and management of large public investment projects.

In December 2021 the Government agreed, subject to the necessary approvals and requirements under the Public Spending Code being met, a new National Elective Ambulatory Care Strategy. This new strategy aims to change the way in which day case, scheduled procedures, surgeries, scans and outpatient services can be better arranged to ensure greater capacity in the future and help to address waiting lists. The development of additional capacity will be provided through dedicated, standalone Elective Hospitals in Cork, Galway and Dublin. No other locations are under active consideration. It is important to note that the locations chosen will allow for new facilities of a size and scale to implement an elective care programme that will tackle waiting lists on a national basis. This means that the new facilities will be designed to maximise their capacity and in doing so will operate to cover as a wide catchment area as possible, extending beyond existing and future health areas including Limerick and neighbouring mid-west counties.

The elective care scope of service will be developed in two phases commencing with day cases, diagnostics, and outpatients and then by in-patient treatment. On this basis, the Elective Care Centres (ECCs) will be designed to provide sufficient capacity to facilitate future phases, including some elective in patient capacity, thereby providing a sustainable and strategic response to cater for the highly dynamic landscape of healthcare policy and practice.

A Programme Preliminary Business Case and a Project Preliminary Business Case (PBC) for Cork have now been completed, while project PBCs for Galway and Dublin are at an advanced stage of development. The Business Cases will be subject to technical review by the Department of Health and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, including through the recently introduced External Assurance Process. Pending favourable review(s) under the Spending Code, further memoranda for Government would then be brought forward to progress the programme for Cork, Galway and Dublin.