Letterkenny surgical hub moves to design phase as timeline queried - Donegal News

THE Letterkenny surgical hub has moved to the design phase as questions have been raised over the timeline of its delivery.

The hub was announced in July last year by Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

At the meeting of the Regional Health Forum West and North West on Tuesday, an update on the development was requested by Independent Cllr Declan Meehan.

He said the surgical hubs that have been proposed for Letterkenny and Sligo are based on universal designs applied to existing surgical hubs in other counties.

“Maybe we could get a little bit of understanding on what makes the design phase as part of this process longer, or taking as long as it currently is,” said Cllr Meehan.

He was informed by Niall Colleary, Assistant National Director, Capital & Estates that work has progressed to finalise the design brief, including the schedule of accommodation, for both the Letterkenny and Sligo developments.

“The Major Design Team Framework for the West and North West region has been established which will facilitate the appointment of Design Teams,” said Mr Colleary in a written response.

“The intention is to progress the design phase in Q3 for both sites in parallel, ensuring a coordinated and efficient rollout of this capacity in response to service need.

“The overall programme including the timelines and capital costs associated with both developments at Sligo and Letterkenny will become clearer once the design team progress through the preliminary design phase and complete the stage one report for both projects.

“Every effort will be made to accelerate the delivery of these Surgical Hubs through standardised exemplar designs and leaning on the knowledge and learnings gained from the other surgical hubs that are nearing completion in Galway, Cork, Waterford and Limerick.”

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