Cork hospitals project: feasibility report on consultative council recommendation

Abstract

Need for Feasibility Study: The acceptance in principle by the Minister for Health of the recently published report by the Consultative Council on the General Hospital Services, has introduced several new planning and policy factors which make it necessary to give further consideration to the Cork Hospitals Board Brief for the proposed Regional Hospital on the Wilton Road site . The most important factor in the report affecting the development of the Regional Hospital is the proposal that the Wilton Rood site should be developed (if practicable), not only to accommodate the Regional Hospital and the Dental Hospital and School, but also a future General Hospital of approximately 600 beds. It is suggested that this future Hospital will be required to provide the balance of the beds needed in the Cork region. The Consultative Council's recommendations come at a time when the Cork Hospitals Board Brief for the Regional Hospital is well advanced. While the report accepts the importance of the construction of the Regional Hospital proceeding without delay, it, at the same time, creates uncertainties which will have to be resolved at an early date if the production of the Development Plans is not to be further delayed . The purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of locating both the Regional and General Hospitals on the Wilton Site, and to identify the planning and economic advantages or disadvantages of such a proposal. The use to be made of the existing Hospitals in the assessment of the future bed requirements for the Cork region and the administrative problems associated with the proposals contained in the report are relevant factors in a comprehensive assessment of the problem, but detailed study falls out with the scope of this particular report .