A limited private A&E service is expected to be introduced at the new Galway Clinic in March. The hospital, sister to the Blackrock Clinic, Dublin, expects to open the service in March on a restricted basis.
This may relieve pressure on medical staff at the region's main hospital, University College Hospital Galway (UCHG), which recently had to treat patients in ambulances. There have been up to 22 patients on trolleys in UCHG's casualty department at night, waiting admission for treatment.
Patients to the Galway Clinic's casualty will have to pay, and will require referral by a GP, but will be guaranteed shorter waiting times for treatment. The clinic says it had always planned to provide a complementary community medical service.
