Supporters for new children’s hospital welcome commencement of An Bord Pleanála Oral Hearing Process today
An Bord Pleanála (ABP) today began an Oral Hearing into the planning application for the new children’s hospital on a shared campus with St. James’s Hospital at the Hilton Hotel, Kilmainham, Dublin 8. The application also includes plans for an Innovation Centre and Family Accommodation Unit at St. James’s Hospital Campus, and Satellite Centres at Tallaght & Connolly Hospitals. In a joint statement, advocates for the new hospital welcomed the commencement of the hearing process, stating that it was bringing a hospital befitting the children and young people of Ireland ‘one step closer’.
In a joint statement, Eilísh Hardiman, CEO, Children’s Hospital Group; Helen Shortt, CEO, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin; Mona Baker, CEO, Temple Street Children’s University Hospital; David Slevin, CEO, Tallaght Hospital; and Lorcan Birthistle, CEO, St James’s Hospital; said:
“The new children’s hospital on a shared campus with St James’s Hospital will bring together the three existing children’s hospitals in a modern building that is custom-built to deliver the best clinical treatments. Its completion will facilitate better clinical outcomes and increased operational efficiency, as well as significantly enhancing the experience of service for children, young people, their families and staff.”
“We believe that the proposed site is the best site for the children’s hospital for clinical reasons. Its location on a shared campus with Ireland’s leading teaching hospital, St James’s Hospital, and in time the relocated Coombe maternity hospital, will provide optimal clinical treatment and outcomes for Ireland’s sickest children and adolescents.”
“This is the most significant capital investment project ever undertaken in healthcare in Ireland and is a core part of Ireland’s transition to a new National Model of Care for Paediatric services. The new national model involves treating the vast majority of children and young people as close to home as is medically appropriate, and reflects best national and international developments in healthcare.”
John Pollock, Project Director, National Paediatric Hospital Development Board said: “The St James’s Hospital campus is centrally located in Dublin and has more public transport links than any other hospital in the country. During the design stage there were over 1,000 hours of engagement and consultation with local residents and businesses, as well as with staff from the existing three children’s hospitals, the Clinical Leads in Paediatric Specialities and with families, young people and children who are former or current users of the service. This extensive consultation process has led to the development of a world-class building which has been designed to enable staff to deliver the best possible clinical care for children and young people.”
Louis Roden, Chairman of the New Crumlin Hospital Group and father of two children who have Cystic Fibrosis said: “The only thing that a parent of a critically sick child cares about is getting the best possible care for their child, and that means having the children’s hospital located on a shared campus with an adult teaching hospital. St James’s Hospital is one of the leading teaching hospitals in Ireland. We have a fantastic design, the site is right – now let’s just get it built!”
For more information on the new children’s hospital and to hear from families and staff who support the project click here to see the most recent video: www.newchildrenshospital.ie
The story of parent Sinead Lucey from Cork whose son suffers from Pfeiffer syndrome, is detailed in a video http://www.newchildrenshospital.ie/design-vision/
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Media Contacts:
Angie Kinane (087)812 6249 / Ruth O’Byrnes (086 055 8331) / Sinead McGovern (087)6411725
Key Facts about the building
- Seven storeys tall at its height with the majority of the building sitting at four storeys
- 380 single in-patient rooms
- 42 beds in critical care unit
- 18 neonatal critical care units