LATEST: Government approval announced for major improvements to Clare healthcare

It has been announced that Government approval has been granted for all three options recommended in the recent HIQA Report for expanded healthcare and bed capacity in Clare and across the Mid-West.

The newly approved three options are the expanding current capacity at University Hospital Limerick (UHL)’s site in Dooradoyle (Option A), extending the campus to a second site in close proximity under a shared governance and resourcing model (Option B) and developing a new Model 3 hospital in the Mid-West region which would provide a second ED for the region (Option C).

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The announcement was welcomed by Clare Fianna Fáil TD Cathal Crowe, who described it as “very positive news for Clare and the Mid-West region.”

He said all three HIQA-recommended options will now be progressed in parallel, with work to expand capacity at University Hospital Limerick continuing while the HSE identifies a site for an adjacent campus under Option B.

Crowe also welcomed confirmation that the HSE will concurrently move to progress Option C, involving the construction of a new hospital with a second emergency department for the region.

He explained the decision followed a coordinated lobbying effort by Oireachtas members across parties and thanked the Minister for Health and campaign groups, including the Friends of Ennis Hospital, for their engagement.

However, he said key questions remain around the timeline and location of a new emergency department, stressing that it “makes sense geographically” for it to be located in County Clare.

In the short term, he called for clarity on whether Option B could evolve into Option C at the same site, warning that an ED built too close to UHL would fall short of what has long been sought by communities in Clare.

Mr Crowe highlighted that around 40 per cent of Clare’s permanent population lives more than an hour from an emergency department, placing tens of thousands beyond the “golden hour” for cardiac care.

Noting that it is essential that the impact of the 2009 closure of Ennis A&E is reversed and that healthcare services in the county are future-proofed.

He also welcomed plans to enhance services and bed capacity at Ennis Hospital, St Joseph’s Hospital in Limerick and Nenagh Hospital, and reiterated his call for an increase in the spending cap for major public capital projects to speed up delivery of vital healthcare infrastructure.