Mayo University Hospital receives planning approval for extension

AN EXTENSION to Mayo University Hospital’s Emergency Department has formally received planning approval. 

The new two-storey extension has been approved by Mayo County Council subject to five conditions - which have not yet been disclosed. 

The proposed extension will include an expansion to the ground floor emergency department to include a dedicated paediatric area and introduce a new acute medical admissions unit (AMAU) at the first floor.

The various upgrades will lead to more accommodation for patients, including seven new assessment and treatment spaces in the emergency department. The new first-floor medical assessment unit will also provide an additional ten assessment spaces for unscheduled care and ancillary services.

The extension will provide additional patient cubicles, patient isolation facility, gynaecology treatment suite and associated staff and clinical support facilities. 

A new ambulance entrance will also be included in the works, as well as the expansion of the existing car park.

The project will be undertaken in a multiphase approach and will be facilitated with temporary prefabricated accommodation.

Mayo TD Alan Dillon has estimated that construction on the new emergency department will commence in 2025. 

This comes as 23 people are currently waiting on trolleys in MUH - a jump from 18 the previous day. 

Of these, nine are waiting in the emergency department while 14 are being treated on wards.