New A&E units planned for Cork, Portlaoise

New A&E departments in Cork and Portlaoise are to be announced as part of the €600 million capital programme for the health services, to be launched by Minister for Health Mary Harney later this week.

The programme will also contain provision for plans to upgrade and expand A&E departments in Drogheda, Waterford, Kilkenny, Tralee, Sligo, Letterkenny and Nenagh.

There will also be a €2 million allocation for an interim outpatient unit in Wexford which would allow for the expansion of A&E facilities into the existing outpatient department.

However in many cases the new or expanded units will not open this year as funding will only allow for the the project to move further along the design or planning stages.

The new programme will also contain around €100 million in funding for minor capital works in hospitals and healthcare centres around the country.

The Department of Finance has approved a €100 million minor capital initiative - for projects costing less than €500,000 - on the basis that they involve no ongoing revenue implications.

Under the capital programme, €2.5 million is to be allocated for the provision of a new A&E department at the Midland Regional Hospital in Portlaoise. It is expected this contract will be completed in about eight months, with equipping of the facility to follow.

There is also a €1.5 million provision for Mercy Hospital in Cork for a new emergency department. The programme says this project is at the tender stage and that construction could begin by the end of June. About €3.4 million is to be allocated for the interim upgrading of A&E facilities at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.

The extension will allow for the provision of additional treatment areas and new X-ray facilities. This project is at design stage.

St Luke's Hospital in Kilkenny is to receive €1.15 million and Sligo hospital €900,000 for planning work on new A&E departments, medical assessment units and 30-bed bed wards.

The Sligo facilities are scheduled to open in 2009.