The Minister for Health, on 6 July 2011, announced that the National Children’s Hospital will be located on the campus of the Mater Hospital, Dublin. This follows an independent expert review which in commissioned in May. An application for planning permission will now be submitted to An Bord Pleanála.
The report, which carried out a detailed comparison of the costs of providing the hospital on alternative sites, and an analysis of the clinical benefits involved, is unanimous in its recommendation in favour of the existing site.
It concludes that the cost of developing the facility there is similar to the costs which would be incurred if the project was provided on any of the alternatives examined. The report gives ‘unanimous and unequivocal support’ for the Mater site.
The Government will make a final decision on proceeding with the project in the context of its overall review of capital spending, which will be completed in September.
In the meantime, the Minister for Health has called on the three children’s hospitals in Dublin to work very closely together, and to continue their discussions on forming a single governance structure well in advance of the opening of the new hospital.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to building the National Children’s Hospital. It is the Government’s intention to achieve the best possible clinical outcome for children within the resources available.
No comments:
Post a Comment