Surgical hub delay

An opposition TD has called for clarity after a surgical hub that should be up and running in CUH is still not open.

Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould said the hub was originally due to open in 2024 but will now not open until the end of Q2 2026 after he received an update from the HSE on it.

The TD for Cork North Central said: “When these hubs were first announced in 2022, Cork’s was to be open in 2024. They were to take 18 months to deliver and would reduce the burden on our hospitals. It is February 2025, almost 79,000 people in Cork are on a waiting list for our hospitals and the surgical hubs won’t be delivered until the middle of next year.

“The Government keep talking about all of the money they’re spending on health. Where is it going? It is certainly not improving the healthcare system in Cork. There are almost 9,000 children waiting on outpatient and inpatient procedures in Cork hospitals. The anxiety and trauma this is causing children and their families cannot be understated.”

He added: “It is very clear that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are not capable of delivery when it comes to our health service. We were promised an elective hospital, a surgical hub and primary care centres in Mayfield, Glanmire and Blarney. Instead, our out of hours doctors has closed, not a brick has been laid for any of these big projects and things have never been consistently worse in our A&Es.”

In 2023, a Department of Health statement said the CUH hub will be a modular build.

Speaking about the initiative in May 2023, the then Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said: “These surgical hubs now being developed will address waiting lists in the shorter term and will complement the longer-term development of regional elective hospitals in Galway, Cork and Dublin.

“I’ve asked the HSE to ensure that the first of the new hubs will be operational before the end of this year, with more following in 2024.”