HSE seeks planning for major five-storey hospital extension

The HSE has submitted more ambitious plans for a major five-storey extension to Cavan General Hospital. The latest drawings, lodged to Cavan County Council for approval, have added two more floors of bed space on top of what was previously granted.

The 7,588 sq m accommodation development will now comprise of an Emergency Department and Endoscopy Unit at ground floor level, with inpatient ward accommodation spread across the first, second and third floors.

A plant area will be located at fourth floor level, and a link corridor will connect the new extension to the existing hospital building at lower ground floor level.

It follows a commitment to provide additional beds at the hospital, with the number tripled to 58 from earlier plans in which 18 beds were envisaged.

Planning permission was originally approved in 2022. However the HSE has returned with a new set of designs for council planners to assess.

The new endoscopy unit will include three procedure and two recovery rooms. Meanwhile, the relocated and enhanced ED will contain two resuscitation bays, 10 major injury treatment bays, six minor injury treatment bays, as well as three paediatric and three isolation rooms.

The 54-single person en-suite rooms will also include two isolation rooms.

In addition, the plans provide for 37 car parking spaces, to include 10 accessible spaces and four EV charging spaces, seven motorbike spaces, and all boundary treatments, vehicle and pedestrian accesses, landscaping, and associated site development works.

A decision on new plans is expected in August.

Cavan General Hospital was opened in the late 1980s but has seen a massive surge in patient numbers over the past decade.

The current ED has come under significant pressure as part of that, with it being placed in a state of “escalation” a number of times due to the sheer volume of patients presenting there.

The COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted shortcomings at the facility, where the previous planning application described the location of the existing ED as “poor” in terms of access for patients and ambulances, leading to “traffic congestion” on site.

Under the HSE's latest bed expansion plan, a total of 97 beds will be delivered at Cavan and Monaghan Hospital by 2028. This includes 23 beds between 2021-2024 and 74 beds between 2025-2028.

Oncology unit

Progress continues to be made in relation to the provision of a new Oncology Unit at Cavan General, which was included in the HSE’s Capital Plan for 2023.

That involves a new three-storey block to be built on the northern side of the existing front hospital entrance, as well as upgrades to the existing pharmacy and provision of a new Aseptic Unit.

It will however require the relocation of the current physio department from the HSPC inpatient assessment area in order to allow the space become a new eight-patient day ward/post theatre recovery area.

The tender for those works expected to be issued sometime after the summer period.

Mental health unit

The hospital still has plans to build a new 30 bed Acute Assessment Mental Health Unit to replace the existing 25-bed facility on the grounds of Cavan General.

It recently came in for flack following the publication of a report following an inspection by the Mental Health Commission (MHC).

The inspection body found that residents’ health needs were not being assessed regularly, the garden area was left littered with cigarette butts, and toilet bowls and sinks were stained and unclean.

There was also concerns raised over failures to minimise potential ligature hazards and with the code of practice on the use of restraint.

The HSE accepts there “key issues identified” and that the recommendations made by the MHC have been addressed and “continue to be implemented”.

Finally, other projects planned for the Cavan General site include an extension to the Lisdarn Community Care building, and and the building of a new 1,520 sq m hub for the valued service.

All capital projects in the HSE are subjected to the public spending code to ensure value for money is achieved for taxpayers.