The HSE has confirmed that a design team is still working on a new Development Control Plan for Letterkenny University Hospital.
At a meeting of the Regional Health Forum West this week, officials said this will outline a short and medium term development strategy for services at the hospital, including upgrading the Emergency Department and providing a Minor Injuries Unit.
Cllr Ciaran Brogan was told in the meantime, a modular extension to the ED is nearing completion.
This week’s meeting of the Regional Health Forum was told that while management wait for the finalisation of the Development Control Plan for the hospital campus, it is necessary to create some additional space for patients in the busy Emergency Department.
With that in mind, a modular unit is being developed, to become operational before the end of September.
The extension will incorporate 19 additional patient cubicles, 11 of them for admitted patients, three for the hospital’s purple pathway, two for the Frailty Intervention Team and three for surgical assessment.
Cllr Ciaran Brogan was told the interim extension will help to provide a better experience for patients attending the Emergency Department, with officials stressing the provision of a modular unit does not negate the need to construct a purpose built unit in the future.
The meeting was also told that seats in the ED have been upgraded, and the expansion of the Acute Medical Assessment Unit has commenced.
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