The redevelopment of University Hospital Galway (UHG) has reached a key milestone with the appointment of a Design Team to deliver two new inpatient ward blocks, marking the first two phases of an extensive upgrade of the campus.

Following an open competition, Perkins & Will, working with Cullen Payne Architects, have been named as Architects to lead an Integrated Design Team through every stage of design and delivery for the initial major projects at UHG.

The hospital's Development Control Plan (DCP) identifies an urgent need to expand bed capacity to meet the current and future care demands of communities in Galway and across the West and North West. The provision of 300 additional beds is intended to relieve overcrowding, tackle capacity shortfalls and reduce waiting times.

Ward Blocks A and B—each providing 150 beds—are the first steps in a substantial capital programme to grow capacity and improve patient experience at the region's only Model 4 hospital.

Further significant, phased projects are planned alongside the ward blocks, including a new Emergency Department, a critical care unit, additional surgical theatres, a cancer centre, a medical laboratory, a women and children's unit and a permanent helipad, which is critical to UHG's role as a Model 4 tertiary hospital.

In addition to new inpatient capacity, Ward Block A will include shell-and-core space for a future Diagnostics Suite, while Ward Block B will provide a multi-level shell-and-core for a future Maternity Unit. Detailed, costed feasibility studies for these fit-outs will be prepared early in the design of each building.

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The new Ward Block A will be located between the current Outpatients Department and the Nurse's Home, close to the Emergency Department. Block B will be sited to the rear of the hospital, near the new radiation oncology building. Both structures will connect to the main hospital across multiple floors.

Extensive enabling works are required to clear the sites ahead of construction, and separate, dedicated Design Teams are already advancing the design and procurement of these packages. Works include relocating underground services, decanting existing services and demolishing substandard, low‑rise buildings.

Tony Canavan, Regional Executive Officer, HSE West and North West said, "The Development Control Plan for UHG represents the largest ever investment in healthcare infrastructure in the West and North West region and I am delighted to see these first two projects progress to design stage. The development of ward blocks A and B are a critical component of the plan to reform healthcare for our communities. The 300 new beds will enable UHG to provide better, safer and more timely care; will significantly reduce waiting times for patients and will alleviate the consistent capacity pressures which the hospital experiences."

Chris Kane, UHG Hospital Manager said; "UHG is one of the busiest hospitals in the country and attendances continue to grow. At present, meeting our Patient Experience Time targets is a challenge and during periods of high demand, our patients can face unacceptably long wait times. This is not the standard of care we strive for.

"The need for additional inpatient beds has been identified in the Government's Acute Hospital Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan and the delivery of 300 new beds is an absolute priority to reduce overcrowding and long wait times. Over the next few months, the Design Team will be engaging with staff and wider stakeholders as the detailed design for these two new buildings take shape.

"User groups are being established to assist the Design Team develop the separate components for each Block in detail and these interdisciplinary groups will meet frequently until the designs are completed. The Galway University Hospital Capital Programme Oversight Board will continue to provide overall governance of the design and procurement process."

Niall Colleary, Assistant National Director, HSE Capital and Estates concluded: "Approval to proceed with these two major projects on the UHG campus is a vote of confidence in the extensive work recently carried out by the project team in conjunction with the Department of Health to prepare a robust, long-term Development Control Plan for the campus.

"We are delighted to have completed the appointment of a design team, who have considerable national and international experience in large-scale acute healthcare projects, to assist with delivery of these two key projects. Each of these blocks constitute a Major Infrastructure Project as described in the current Infrastructural Guidelines, and we look forward to progressing both projects efficiently to the next approval gate (Preliminary Business Case Submission), as quickly as possible."