Children’s hospital decision is slammed

THE Government’s decision to provide funding to build the new National Children’s Hospital at St James’s has been described as a “shameful” by campaigners who want it located in Dublin 15.

The Connolly for Kids Hospital group (C4KH) and the Jack and Jill Foundation are seeking legal opinions on options to challenge the decision and have sent a ‘holding letter’ to try and prevent the plans progressing.

The provision of the €1 billion required for the hospital at St James’s and two paediatric centres on the Tallaght and Connolly Hospitals’ campuses was announced last week by Minister for Health, Simon Harris.

“Today is a huge step forward for the children’s hospital project, ending years of doubt as to whether it would ever be built,” Minister Harris said.

“Today, there is no more doubt.”

However, campaign groups opposed to the plan described the project as “the most expensive children’s hospital in the world’ and claimed that it was “unfit for purpose” and “a waste of public money”.

In a hard-hitting statement, C4KH also claimed that as long as there was no co-located maternity hospital on the site, which it described as “a pipe-dream”, “babies would die and many left disabled”.

The group also believes there’s not enough beds, operating theatres or space for research, family accommodation or parking in the National Children’s Hospital plans. At a previous meeting regarding the build, spokesperson for C4KH, Dr Fin Breathnach, said there was no evidence that the site at St James’s was better for the children’s hospital than the one at Connolly.

“The international price accepted for any children’s hospital to be built is €1 million per bed, whereas we’ve been told for the hospital to be built on the St James’s site, it’s a ridiculous €3 million per bed – there is no justification for building the hospital at the St James’s site,” Dr Breathnach said.

“We’ve been asking the Government for years to supply us with evidence to support their argument that the St James’s site is the most suitable place for the hospital and they’ve failed to do so.

“Why have they failed? Because the evidence doesn’t exist. It is a ridiculous place to put the children’s hospital.”

C4KH argue that a world-class hospital can be built at Connolly in Blanchardstown faster and at a saving of at least €250 million compared to St James’s. Connolly would also have maternity co-location as the Rotunda is to re-locate to the Dublin 15 site in the coming years.

However, writing in Northside People last month, Group Clinical Director of the Children’s Hospital Group, Dr Peter Greally, dismissed opposition to the St James’s site.

“The 50-acre site at St James’s Hospital will soon be one of the best medical campuses in Europe,” he said. “Not only will it be home to St James’s Hospital – one of the country’s leading teaching and research intensive adult hospitals – it will also be the new location for the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital. That is the optimal service model – a maternity, children’s and adult hospital all located on the one campus.”

Dr Greally also said parking and access to the hospital would be well catered for.

“There will be 675 dedicated family parking spaces (three times what is currently available at the three Dublin children’s hospitals) and the St James’s campus will be accessible from three entry points,” he added.

Construction at St James’s is due to start within weeks.