Galway Bay fm newsroom - Work is to get underway on a long-awaited new orthopaedic theatre at Merlin Park in the coming weeks.
The date was confirmed in the Dáil to Galway West TD Catherine Connolly, who raised the major crisis in orthopaedic waiting lists at Galway University Hospitals.
Deputy Catherine Connolly said the waiting list for orthopaedic services is now 6, 487 - with hundreds waiting up to four years.
She told the chamber of one patient who was classified as 'urgent', yet was advised of an 18 month waiting time for surgery.
She drew attention to the situation at Merlin Park - which started in 2017 when leaking roofs were discovered at the operating theatre.
Independent Connolly claimed the word "urgency" has taken on a whole new meaning, when it's now almost 2021 and we still don't have a new theatre.
She also claimed that no patients on the waiting list were referred through the National Treatment Purchase Fund, nor were they treated in private hospitals.
Speaking in response, Minister Frank Feighan admitted that the new building was taking "a long time" - but said works will get underway in the coming weeks.
Deputy Connolly said the situation is a major crisis and demanded to know how it was allowed to get to this point...
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