Elective surgery centre proposed

[Posted: Mon 02/11/2009 by Joanne McCarthy]

An elective surgical centre which could relieve emergency services could be developed on an available 30-acre site at Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital in Dublin, its CEO Aidan Gleeson has said.

According to Mr Gleeson, an elective hospital would take the pressure off the emergency services in the greater Dublin area and eliminate the cancellations or postponements of elective procedures, which have occurred because acute beds were taken up with Emergency Department (ED) admissions.

In recent weeks, admissions to two of Dublin’s children’s hospitals were curtailed because of the rise in swine flu cases. Furthermore, non-urgent elective admissions to the two hospitals – Temple Street and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin - were cancelled.

The proposed site at Cappagh hospital has been bequeathed by the Lady Martin family to the Sisters of Charity and can only be used for health and education purposes.

Mr Gleeson stated that it is available at Cappagh for an elective hospital that would carry out orthopaedics as well as all other main elective procedures.

Mr Gleeson was speaking at the official opening of a new isolation unit at Cappagh hospital. The new isolation unit will greatly reduce the risk of patients passing infections to other patients and staff in the hospital, he said.