The HSE is to erect mobile operating theaters in a Cork University Hospital car park.
The move is an “urgent” plan to slash waiting lists but the new theaters could also be used to treat trauma cases.
This is because, according to tender documents, there is already another plan underway to connect the proposed prefab unit to a link corridor due to be built between the main hospital building and its helipad.
According to tender documents, the mobile operating theaters will have to be “comfortable” and “normal”.
Internally, they will also have to be “visually stimulating”.
When the specialist prefab units are completed, they are to be located in CUH’s Northern Car Park and operated for at least two years.
As well as the operating theatres, the contract is also for a six-bed day recovery unit. The estimated cost, excluding VAT, will be €4 million.
The HSE says it reserves the right to buy the mobile theaters when they are completed or rent them from whoever builds them.
“This project is to address the critical, immediate need for additional theater capacity in CUH,” the HSE tender documents say.
“This project is a critical clinical urgency for CUH to prioritize access to elective surgery and shorten wait times for surgical procedures to ensure safe, timely and effective access of patients.
“This project will address the significant theater capacity gap, enhance capacity with challenged specialties, and leverage existing theater capacity.”
The HSE says it is looking for two “modular or mobile theater units”, recovery bays, a day ward and all necessary facilities. It says the mobile theaters and all associated accommodation will be “limited in physical size” and in the complexity of work they can and should accommodate.
The HSE also says it is envisaged that the new units will be in operation for a two-year period after which the service will transfer to a more permanent structure adjacent to the existing theater area.
“However the HSE reserves the right to extend the contract period on a rolling 12-month basis beyond the 24-month period if applicable,” the documents state.
The deadline for expressions of interest in the tender is October 12.
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