A new surgical hub in Cork, providing care for HSE South West, was officially opened today.
Once fully operational, the hub will include four-day case operating theatres and supporting spaces, two minor procedure rooms, five outpatient department (OPD)/treatment rooms and a dedicated recovery unit and associated clinical support services and staff facilities.
The hub is located on the Cork University Hospital (CUH) campus. According to the Department of Health, operational activity will commence from tomorrow (29 September), with a “phased introduction” of services. Eventually this hub is expected to deliver additional annual activity of approximately 8,000 day-case procedures, 5,700 minor operations and over 18,400 OPD appointments.
The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin and Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, attended the official opening.
The Taoiseach said that by “developing new facilities such as this state-of-the-art surgical hub, we are ensuring that Ireland’s healthcare system is fit for the future”.
The Minister for Health said these hubs “are designed so that patients move seamlessly in one direction, from registration to pre-admission to the operating theatre, to the recovery bay, and then, on the same day, are discharged home”.
The Cork surgical hub is part of the wider Sláintecare elective care programme which is delivering surgical hubs and elective treatment centres across the country.
Three hubs are already operational (the Reeves Centre in Tallaght and the surgical hubs in Mount Carmel and Swords). A further three are due to start treating patients in the coming months in Limerick, Waterford and Galway, with two more hubs in Sligo and Letterkenny currently in the design phase.
According to the Department the new Cork hub will deliver “significant additional capacity” with “thousands of day-case procedures, minor operations and outpatient consultations every year”.
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