16 consulting rooms are set to be added to University Hospital Waterford by the end of the year to deal with capacity issues.
That's according to Senator John Cummins, who says the Acting CEO of the South South-West Hospital Group confirmed the news.
The Waterford senator says CEO Ms. Tess O’Donovan confirmed that a new two-storey modular build will be delivered to assist with capacity constraint issues at UHW by the end of 2021.
Ms. O’Donovan also confirmed that the HSE intends to use the derogation from planning rules introduced for Covid-19 related measures to progress a permanent two-storey suite over the existing outpatient department and that the estimated timeframe is 12 months.
“Covid-19 has changed the way services can be delivered, it is no longer feasible to have long queues of people sitting shoulder to shoulder awaiting an outpatient appointment, therefore additional capacity has to be added to the system.
"The permanent solution to scheduled care capacity constraints at UHW is the construction of a new 2 storey suite above the existing outpatient department and it has been confirmed to me that Stage 1 Design for this development is complete and work on procurement has begun," he said.
Senator Cummins concluded by saying “If the HSE is to meet its ambitious target of having the two-storey permanent suite completed in the next 12 months, it will need to utilise the current derogation on normal planning processes which was introduced by government for the provision of Covid-19 Infrastructural works.
"While I personally believe this work meets the criteria, I sincerely hope the planning department at Waterford city and county council view it in the same way."
