Cavan ED attendances rise 1%

The number of people attending the Emergency Department at Cavan General rose by one per cent last year.

A total of 37,308 attended the local hospital service in 2022, with 37,704 presenting in 2023.

Departmental data currently shows that overall emergency department attendances were broadly similar in 2023 and 2022 nationally, at an estimated 1.4M attendances last year.

Recently, the Celt reported that the number of additional beds, planned as part of a major extension at Cavan General Hospital, is set to be tripled to 58.

The revised proposal is currently being assessed by HSE Estates as part of a new three-storey extension at Cavan General, to include a new Emergency Department, Endoscopy Unit and inpatient ward.

Planning permission for the development was approved in 2022, and the project is currently at detailed design stage.

Initial enabling works, carried out by Cavan’s Elliott Group, have been completed, and a second contract to address electrical infrastructure to support future campus development have also been tendered.

In its planning application the HSE described the current Emergency Department as “undersized” and its location considered “poor” in terms of access for patients and ambulances, leading to difficulties with “traffic congestion” on the site.

The new relocated and enhanced ED will contain two resuscitation bays, 10 major injury treatment bays, six minor injury treatment bays, as well as three paediatric and three isolation rooms.