The Irish Association for Emergency Medicine (IAEM) is hopeful that its standards for the design of new emergency departments (EDs) will be utilised by the HSE, according to its President.
The IAEM commissioned healthcare design company Archus to produce the recommendations alongside an IAEM working group. The Standards for Emergency Department Design and Specification for Ireland document was published in August 2024.
Speaking to the Medical Independent (MI), IAEM President Prof Conor Deasy said: “Hopefully this document is going to be a resource that can be used by funders as well as clinicians, as well as healthcare designers and architects, who might be involved in developing infrastructure for emergency departments in Ireland.”
Prof Deasy said the document has received a positive reception from stakeholders.
He also said the publication was timely given that University Hospital Galway (UHG) and Beaumont Hospital in Dublin are both planning to construct new EDs.
The construction of a new ED for UHG has suffered numerous delays, but a design team has been appointed to develop the masterplan for capital projects and a project manager took up post in July 2024.
In response to a question from MI on whether the IAEM standards will be incorporated into the design of the new ED, a spokesperson for UHG pointed out that HSE Capital and Estates was not involved in the IAEM’s document.
“When undertaking the design of new health infrastructure, the HSE considers all relevant national and international standards current at that time in addition to project-specific health planning/modelling,” they said.
Dr James Foley, Consultant in Emergency Medicine at UHG and member of the working group that developed the IAEM document, told this newspaper that health management has listened to the views of consultants about how the new ED should be configured.
“You would keep your fingers crossed that they would take our input into consideration.”
Planning permission for the new two-storey ED at Beaumont Hospital was submitted in October.
A spokesperson for the hospital told MI that the IAEM publication was reviewed and taken on board in the design process.
See news feature: Building the case to invest in emergency department infrastructure – Medical Independent
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