Reeves Centre a game changer for hospital

TALLAGHT University Hospital saw an extra 10,000 people across its Outpatient department in 2023 due to the ongoing success of its Reeves Day Surgery Centre.

Opened in late 2020, the day surgery facility is located across the road from the main hospital campus – and due to its positive impact on patients and day case waiting lists is being replicated nationwide.

The Reeves centre was developed by the team at Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) to tackle waiting lists – which are being impacted on by capacity challenges at the local health facility.

Shane Russell is the Chief Operations Officer with TUH and, living in the community, has worked at the local hospital for the best part of 20 years.

“The reality is that the hospital is operating without enough beds”, he told The Echo.

“We’ve seen over the past 25 years that activity has grown and grown, especially on the emergency side and this has put more pressure on day cases.”

As TUH became busier, management had to think creatively and develop a system where outpatient procedures are not being impacted on by emergency or unscheduled hospital activity.

Shane Russell, Chief Operations Officer with TUH

This thought process resulted in the Reeves Day Surgery Centre, a ‘protected unit’ that is disconnected from the main campus.

“The big value of the Reeves centre is that it’s a standalone building, which protects activity”, Mr Russell said.

“We have been able to ramp up day case procedures in recent years because of the centre.

“Three out of four patients are waiting less than three months for an outpatient procedure, with 96 per cent of all surgical day case patients waiting less than nine months.

“We always envisaged that the Reeves centre would help get [outpatient] waiting lists down to the three-month marker and it’s great to see the centre delivering on the promises made when opened.

“It has been a game changer for the hospital”. The Reeves centre, which carried out 4,170 day case procedures in 2023, is fully open, with all four theatres operational and staff in place.

According to Mr Russell, the hospital saw an extra 10,000 people in outpatients in 2023 when compared with 2022.

There was also a 12 per cent reduction in the total day case waiting list last year, with the hospital taking 4,500 people off its outpatient waiting lists.

“The HSE is now replicating the Reeves Centre nationwide,” he said.

“Five nationwide surgical units will be modelled and replicated on the Reeves centre, a concept that TUH introduced itself.”

The Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly TD confirmed in mid-January that work is progressing on six Surgical Hubs nationwide and that Government is ‘fast tracking’ the projects.

Minister Donnelly said: “We know from the development of Ireland’s first Surgical Hub at the Reeves Centre in Tallaght that they reduce waiting times and waiting lists for patients, not just for day cases but also for inpatient care as the removal of many day case procedures can free up theatre time in our hospitals.”

When asked about inpatient waiting lists at TUH, Mr Russell said: “The inpatient list didn’t grow or reduce in in 2022, it stayed static.

“There was however, a 30 per cent reduction in patients waiting longer than 18 months.

“TUH is operating off a vast reduced number of beds, and this is the biggest challenge as we have a growth in the number of people being referred and coming into our emergency department.

“Access to hospital is the biggest focus for the hospital itself, we know it’s at the foremind of the community.”

Looking to 2024, Mr Russell said that the hospital’s “big ask” is more beds – which includes a new 72-bed facility onsite, the funding for which has been confirmed by the HSE.

Mr Russell believes the hospital could over time, with additional beds, bring down inpatient waiting lists.

For now, he said that TUH will continue to work on providing access to the hospital and “reducing down the length of time patients have to wait” for an inpatient procedure.

“That’s the bit that makes a difference to the community”, said Mr Russell.