Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, opens HSE Surgical Hub South Dublin

The HSE Surgical Hub South Dublin, a state-of-the-art healthcare facility designed to reduce patient waiting times and lists, was officially opened today by Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD.

The surgical hub consists of four theatres and will deliver additional capacity to support scheduled care for day cases and reduce waiting lists. This will enable the separation of scheduled and unscheduled care and allow existing acute capacity to support urgent and more complex procedures in South Dublin. The first scheduled procedure is due to take place on Tuesday, February 18.

The HSE Surgical Hub South Dublin aims to deliver 10,000-day case procedures annually. To achieve these targets, the hub will focus on less complex surgeries that do not require hospital stays. The hub includes state-of-the-art facilities with one of the first green theatres in Ireland.

Speaking at the launch, Minister Carroll MacNeill said: “I am delighted to be here today to officially open this new Surgical Hub under the governance of St. James's Hospital, which will make a real difference to people’s lives. I am determined to drive down waiting times and these new Hubs will have an important role to play in helping to do just that, ensuring that people get the care they need where and when they need it.

“This will help to build on the progress we have been making in the last few years in reducing waiting times for patients. We have seen significant improvements in average waiting times. Outpatient waiting times, for example, have reduced from a post-pandemic high of 13.2 months to 6.5 months now.  While almost 85% of patients have been waiting less than a year, I acknowledge that too many people are still waiting too long for care.

“I have been very impressed to see the modern facilities in this new Hub today and it is fantastic to know that many thousands of people will benefit from the treatment they will be receiving here and that they will be seen far faster as a result of this facility.

“I would particularly like to thank the staff for their hard work in getting us to this point and the hard work I know they will put into making this Surgical Hub a success.”

Bernard Gloster, CEO HSE, said: “Reducing waiting lists and waiting times for patients is a key priority for the HSE. By moving day case procedures to the surgical hubs, hospitals around the country will have greater capacity for patients who require emergency and more complex care.

“A central part of our year-round urgent and emergency care planning is to free up capacity in the hospital system to help with patient flow, but this can be at the expense of non-urgent care. The surgical hubs now remove that barrier to patient care and will enable us to work through our waiting lists and reduce waiting times.”

Kate Killeen White, REO HSE Dublin and Midlands said, “The HSE Dublin and Midlands are pleased to have the Surgical Hub open under the governance of St James’s Hospital, whose team are leading on both innovative and bespoke solutions for the delivery of the surgical hub model of care for the benefit of the South Dublin region. The surgical hub at the Reeves Day Surgery Centre in Tallaght, also in our region, has been very successful in reducing waiting lists and treatment times and I look forward to this new hub delivering equally positive results.”

According to Mary Day, CEO St James’s Hospital, “Not only is this hub an integral part of the national programme to address access to elective and ambulatory care, but it is also pioneering in its set up. It has been developed using Lean principles, is fully digital, and includes state-of-the-art facilities, with one of the first green theatres in Ireland. St James’s Hospital’s focus on sustainability and digital healthcare, underpinned by Lean methodologies, ensures the hub optimises efficiencies, minimises waste, and uses digital to enhance patient care and operational workflows for the region.”

The sites in North Dublin, Galway, Cork, Waterford and Limerick are a priority for the HSE, with the plan to have all 6 hubs fully operational within two years.

This is in addition to the existing Reeves Day Surgery Centre in Tallaght, which opened in December 2020. At the time 725 patients were waiting longer than 9 months for surgery. At the end of December 2023, a total of 678 of those patients had been seen and treated and those waiting over 9 months had been reduced to 47.

The Programme for Government 2025 also sets out an ambition to explore the provision of an additional surgical hub for the North West.