Michael McHale , 2025-05-16 07:31:00
Review aims to assess whether equipment is being used to its maximum capacity
The HSE and Department of Health are to conduct a review into how diagnostic equipment is being used in healthcare settings, the Health Minister has told IMT.
“There are so many different things that we need to improve patient flow,” said Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. “Keeping people out of the emergency department, getting people out who don’t need to be in acute hospitals but do need support elsewhere, and making sure that everybody in the hospital system is working in a way that maximises patient flow.”
Along with HSE CEO Bernard Gloster, the Minister intends to analyse the usage of existing diagnostic equipment to understand better how it is being used.
She made the announcement on a visit to Sligo University Hospital this month, where she opened a second CT scanner for the northwest campus.
“What I want to see is how are the CT scanners being used in every hospital? Are they being used to their maximum ability? Some of them finishing at 5pm in the evening, some of them finishing at 8pm in the evening. I don’t feel like I have a sufficient read on that yet and these are expensive machines which we need in our system, which have essentially a 10-year lifespan,” she added.
“Are we getting the best of every machine every single day? How can we improve that? These are questions that I have yet to see answers on in terms of our analysis of the productivity of our healthcare system.”
While in the county, Minister MacNeill turned the sod on a planned new 42-bed ward block for Sligo University Hospital. The unit will include two 21-bed wards comprising of single en-suite rooms with ancillary accommodation and additional space for the future development of cardiology CT and day services.
The €30 million development is set to be complete by the end of 2027 and is part of longer-term plan to develop a multi-service block with additional beds over the next eight years.
Following the Sligo visit the Minister laid the first brick of a new community hospital in Carrick-on-Shannon. The development, with a contract construction value of more than €38 million, will contain 90 beds facilitating long stay, short stay and dementia wards. The building will also accommodate a designated rehabilitation facility.
Further north, construction is ongoing on the site of the new Letterkenny Community Hospital. The 110-bed facility, including a 10-bed dementia unit, is set to cost €52 million and be complete by mid-2026.
This week Jennifer Carroll MacNeill published an updated programme for the implementation of Slaintecare, highlighting 23 priorities in the areas of improving access, service quality and increasing capacity.
The plan also includes a recommitment to establishing six surgical hubs in Cork, Dublin (two sites, one already open) Galway, Limerick and Waterford, and exploring the provision of an additional surgical hub for the North-West.
Speaking to reporters in Sligo, regional executive officer for HSE West and Northwest, Tony Canavan, said that a proposal to develop a surgical hub in Sligo has been brought forward. “We have identified a site for that and it will be considered by the senior leadership team in the middle of May,” he said.
