€37m in funding approved for Tallaght hospital capital projects
By Mary Dennehy
THE Echo met with Tallaght Hospital CEO David Slevin last week to learn about €37m in HSE approved funding for two on campus capital projects - which are just two of a number of developments in progress that will help future proof the hospital, maximising accessibility and patient experience in the years to come.
This vision for the future, The Echo can reveal, will also include the hospital’s first clinical expansion project off site, which will see 22,000 outpatients accessing services in a new, community-based building in Tallaght Cross.
As the hospital prepares to enter its 20th year, management is reviewing the campus, with a number of strategic development projects identified that together pave the way for a more sustainable future for the hospital and its patients.
This week, contractors moved on site to develop a new corporate services building and state-of-the-art creche which, taking around nine months to complete, are being built as part of €22m approved by Government for the Paediatric Outpatient and Urgent Care Satellite clinic.
The new paediatric satellite clinic will be built onto the existing corporate services building and while the creche, which lies in close proximity, is not on the site, management put forward the case for a new, purpose built creche that would be located in a safer, quiter space to the back of the hospital grounds.
This €22m project is the biggest development on campus since the hospital opened in 1998.
Funding of €15m has also been approved by the HSE for the development of a new renal centre, which the CEO is hopeful will start in January 2018.
Tallaght Hospital being the second largest dialysis site in the country is driving this project, with the new two-storey renal building, which will be built over the A&E department, increasing the hospital’s 14 dialysis stations to 28.
Proposals to increase the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) from nine beds to 21 is also in progress and is at planning stage, with the hospital expecting to find out in December if the HSE will fincially support the project.
Mr Slevin told The Echo: “Additional ICU beds are critically needed in the hospital… and as a teaching hospital we need the capacity.
“With the current nine beds we are operating at 120 per cent capacity, that puts pressure on the schedule of patients for surgery.
“We don’t have the capacity to deal with emergency and elective care. This can be difficult and leads to cancellations and delays.”
The vision for the future also includes the hospital’s first clinical expansion project off site, which management hopes will pave the way for more community-based services in the future.
The hospital is taking two floors of a HSE building in the new medical quarter in Tallaght Cross, which, being kitted out by the HSE, will be home to a number of out patient services such as endocrinology and neurology.
This expansion into the community will remove 22,000 outpatients from the campus each year, a practical yet innovative move which will free up additional space on the hospital grounds while making services more easily accessible for outpatients.
Mr Slevin explained how outpatients will be able to park below the new building and get a lift directly up to the relevant floor – enhancing their access to services in a central, community setting.
Construction crews were also on site this week demolishing the former HR prefab buildings.
Over recent months, the HR team was moved to new premises in Exchange Hall, a building which lies outside the hospital boundary but in close proximity.
The site where the HR prefabs once lay is currently being cleared in the hope that funding will be provided for a new 72-bed, six-story building on campus – with all 72 beds, which will be spread across three floors, being single rooms.
If this proposal, which is currently at feasibility stage, is passed, it would also create a new home for the endoscopy and oncology departments.
Tallaght Hospital has the busiest endoscopy through-put in the country and carries out 8,500 scopes every year.
The oncology department, which has outgrown its current location, will also be moved to a new purpose built space on one of the hoped-for building’s six floors.
There are also plans in place to redesign the entrance to the hospital and introduce new traffic measures, with hospital management confirming to The Echo that all works will be carried out with patients and staff in mind.
When asked how these projects will impact on trolley numbers, waiting lists and accessibility for patients, Mr Slevin said: “All of these projects are part of a big jigsaw [which] will help to maximise access and the general patient experience.
“It’s about enhancing access…which is one of the biggest problems in public health.”
He added: “These are all big developments on a hospital campus that needs it.”
