Moffatt officially opens €48m Phase II of Mayo General Hospital

"evidence of this Government´s commitment to delivering quality health care to the people of the west"

15 March 2002

Dr Tom Moffatt, TD, as Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children and Mayo TD officially opened the second phase of the major capital developments at Mayo General Hospital today (15 March).

Speaking at the opening, Dr Moffatt said "This hospital has an illustrious tradition of service to the people of Mayo. As a local representative and a general practitioner in the area, I have regular contact with patients of the hospital and encounter consistently high levels of satisfaction with the standards of the service they receive here. This is a completely different hospital from the one which existed before the Phase 1 development of the hospital began over ten years ago. There are now 800 people working here and an annual budget of around €50m."

Phase I of the hospital development was completed at a total cost of €14m. It included the Outpatients Department, the Radiology Department, 4 Operating Theatres, an Intensive Care Unit and upgraded ward accommodation. Today’s opening marks the completion of that development with the main features including:-

During his remarks at the opening ceremony Dr Moffatt said "The new 33 bed Orthopaedic Unit will be a particularly valuable addition to the hospital and of great benefit to the people of County Mayo with funding of €2.9m provided this year allowing for the opening of the new orthopaedic beds at the hospital. This will involve employing additional orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthetist and radiologist and support staff for the new service."

The development also includes a new Day Care facility, reflecting a shift in modern medicine from in-patient to day case work.

A new psychiatric unit with accommodation for 35 patients, treatment facilities, day facilities and a crisis intervention service has also been provided.

The development also addresses the wider needs of staff, patients and visitors through the provision of a coffee shop, improved catering facilities, better parking facilities and an oratory that will cater for all denominations.

The Minister stated that overall this Government has invested €48m in the development of Phase II of the hospital.

As part of this Government’s continued commitment to provide additional services for older people, evidenced by the provision of an additional €88m for services for older people and palliative care in 2002, a Consultant in Palliative Care Medicine will be employed at Mayo General Hospital.

The Government´s strategy for the development of acute hospital is to achieve regional self sufficiency (except in regard to some highly specialised services) through the development of a network of regional and general hospitals. The on-going investment in the Western Health Board region´s acute hospitals aims to achieve this goal, so that the maximum number of people from the west will be treated in the west.

Recognising that a major issue in relation to hospital services generally is the capacity of the current facilities to deliver the required level of services Dr Moffatt paid tribute to his colleague Micheál Martin, Minister for Health and Children who in January announced an additional €65m for the commissioning of an extra 709 beds during 2002 (as part of 3000 additional acute beds to be provided over the course of Quality and Fairness - A Health Strategy for You) with 45 of these beds in Mayo General Hospital. The new development at Mayo General brings a welcome increase in the number of in-patient beds to over 300 the Minister said.

Since the commencement of the implementation of the National Cancer Strategy, €11.35m of dedicated funding for oncology and related services has been allocated to the Western Health Board specifically for the development of oncology and related services including e3.22m in 2002. This funding has enabled a range of oncology developments under the National Cancer Strategy, including new Consultant appointments in key areas in the region such as: Medical Oncology, Radiology, Palliative Care, Histopathology and Haematology.

€1.27m was provided in 2001 to the Western Health Board for the development of symptomatic breast disease services with an additional €.04m provided for post operative services. The adopted Western Health Board policy is to provide services for women with breast cancer in University College Hospital Galway and at Mayo General Hospital. The regional breast team will be located at UCHG while a breast cancer centre will be located at Mayo General Hospital.

Commenting on the enhancement of oncology services Dr Moffatt confirmed that "In November 2001 my Department approved the funding for an three additional consultant posts with sessional commitments between UCHG and Mayo General Hospital."

The Minister went on to say "There are more and more demands being placed on our Health Care system. I am sure that the 800 or so staff at the hospital can testify to this. This Government is well aware that further improvements need to be made. Today´s event is clear evidence that we are making progress. I can assure you that this Government is committed to the provision of quality health care to the people of the west of Ireland."

The Minister of State concluded by paying tribute to the efforts of all those involved in the construction of the project and especially the "magnificent efforts of all the staff here at Mayo General Hospital" praising their dedication to the patients in particular.