Galway Bay fm newsroom - A design brief is being drawn up for what's hoped will be the first phase of development for a new acute hospital at Merlin Park in the city.
Plans for a new three-storey elective surgery unit have been presented this afternoon to Health Minister Simon Harris at a meeting organised by Galway West TD Hildegarde Naughton.
The new unit, if built, will house an endoscopy unit, orthopaedic surgery theatre and day surgery facilities.
The development is being seen as the first phase in the delivery of a new hospital at Merlin Park - as UHG creaks under the pressure of severe overcrowding.
Almost 5,000 patients have spent time waiting on a trolley at UHG so far this year.
New figures from the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation reveal that it’s one of the worst trolley figures in the country behind University Hospital Limerick and Cork University Hospital.
The latest trolley watch report shows UHG is the most overcrowded in the country again today with 47 people waiting on a bed.
Deputy Naughton says the development of the three story surgical unit could well fit into an overall stategy for Galway's future hospital needs.
