Site for children's hospital

thedaras

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Heres my take on this;

It has been given the go ahead,but watch that space.
There will be a general election and it will be said that there is not enough money to go ahead..by the new government.
 
Whilst it needs to be built, I'm hoping someone somewhere decides to build it in a location that people can actually get to easily. It should be built on the edges of the M50 so people from around Ireland can get to it without having to trapse into the City Centre.
 
From reading the media reports and seeing the various personalities on TV, I've got the impression that the fuss about the location is due to some sort of internal power struggle going on within the childrens hospital sector. Whether its the fact that 3 hospitals are being merged into one with resulting loss of empires for some, jealousy over which of the general hospitals has gotten the gig or just the personalities involved or any other reasons I dont know. But it is very clear that the anti-Mater crowd has some sort of gripe that is not necessarily linked to the location.

On the location issue, while I'm not a great fan of the Mater site, it is a lot more central than any of the other locations proposed and a lot better than Crumlin, which is a nightmare to get to. The reports seem to recommend that the hospital be beside a major teaching hospital, which somewhat limits the choice - building a standalone hospital on the M50 is not an option. If this is the case, the alternatives to the Mater are St. Vincents, St James and Beaumont.

And no matter where you build this hospital, it will be convenient for some people and inconvenient for others. For people who live in a lot of places, Crumlin is very difficult to get to and Tallaght is so inconvenient that the hospital might as well not exist. You cannot please everyone.
 
There has been a lot of talk of "centres of excellence" as regards health and it stands to reason that heavy investment in qualifeid personnel and hi-tech equiment should be located in areas convenient to the population most like to use the facilities - this means a city and in Ireland, this effectively means the capital city.

One of the few justifiable reasons for an upgrade road network is to ferry people from remote areas to such centres, once you get to a centre of population, you then have to think about ease of access.

As cities expand and in Ireland as no new major distributors are built to the heart of them, the centre areas become difficult to access for transport - so it is with the Mater Site.

Regardless of a teaching facility, the cost of land for development may also be afacotr in terms of the overall cost to the taxpayer, and let;s face it, we need to penny pinch because we're NAMA's to the hilt.

A review the prevailing conditions in terms of population demographics and siting when these hospitals were built might help the debate on where to site one now.

ONQ.
 
Tallaght is so inconvenient that the hospital might as well not exist. You cannot please everyone.

Tallaght is only 10 minutes from the M50 and on the Luas. it's a doddle to get to the from anywhere south of Dublin, you need only look at the number of cars in the M&S car park across the road on the day of any match in Croke Park
 
16 floors over looking Da Joy... Great planning boys... Now how are we going to evacuate that in an emergency. Aerial runway to the roof of Block A?
 
Tallaght is only 10 minutes from the M50 and on the Luas. it's a doddle to get to the from anywhere south of Dublin, you need only look at the number of cars in the M&S car park across the road on the day of any match in Croke Park

Unfortunately myself and several hundred thousand other people live on the north of the Liffey. To be honest, it would be quicker for me to get on a ryanair flight and fly to Liverpool or Manchester if I had a sick child. Probably also be quicker to drive to Belfast.

If this hospital were to be located in Tallaght, they would have to keep Temple Street open, which defeats the purpose of a centre of excellence. Otherwise, they would have to provide paediatric emergency care in Beaumont or the Mater.
 
P.S. the HIQA ratings that Tallaght Hospital gets wouldnt inspire you to bring a child there anyway.
 
Is it not a nightmare to get into Dublin city centre and then across to the mater though?

I have had trouble finding my way there and I have lived in Dublin most of my life!

Why does it have to be either the Mater or the M50?

As was mentioned getting to Crumlin is a nightmare,so why cause another nightmare by having the hospital beside the Mater?
 
Just build the bloody thing. The decision has been made. Do we really need to keep on and on about it and put the entire project at risk. We have spent years debating this.
 
There will be a general election and it will be said that there is not enough money to go ahead..by the new government.

That is unfortunate since the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board already has several staff, including a CEO (a former nurse on €120K per annum), and a Finance Director, although heaven knows what they do all day.

€5.3 million has already been spent on planning and design (shure we may as well go ahead wit it so!).
 
.. better than Crumlin, which is a nightmare to get to.

My knowledge of this debate is limited some items I heard on RTE. From that, I can't understand how the case for the Mater was made.

Location ? 'nuff said :rolleyes:

Co-location ? Mater is not a centre of excellence for many of the disciplines that will be needed at the new hospital.

Cost ? Noel Smyth has an offer on the table that is €150m less than the projected cost of the Mater one.
 
Unfortunately myself and several hundred thousand other people live on the north of the Liffey.
The children's hospital is to serve all of Ireland and most of the people going will be driving.

Tallaght is easily the best option then, with the M50 it's accessible to all, saves driving right into the city.

I would think that's a bigger factor then people in North Dublin wanted the hospital in north Dublin. I don't know about emergency care
Even if you are coming from Louth you can get to Tallaght just as easily as the Mater
 
Isn't this a tertiary centre, so it doesn't replace Crumlin/Temple St/Tallaght, but it takes the most serious and specialised cases from those hospitals?
 
Isn't this a tertiary centre, so it doesn't replace Crumlin/Temple St/Tallaght, but it takes the most serious and specialised cases from those hospitals?

Yes, it's to be the tertiary centre for the whole country. I was always surprised at the location, I would have expected a green field site near the m50. I was told at the time, it had to be accessible to the universities and the adult hospitals.

In relation to emergency care, the other ED's should deal with these just like regional hospitals from Letterkenny to Cork do. When the child needs specialised care they transfer to the tertiary centre.
 
"In relation to emergency care, the other ED's should deal with these just like regional hospitals from Letterkenny to Cork do. When the child needs specialised care they transfer to the tertiary centre."

Can you amplify, please. Becky? Does this mean what I think it means?
 
Unfortunately myself and several hundred thousand other people live on the north of the Liffey. To be honest, it would be quicker for me to get on a ryanair flight and fly to Liverpool or Manchester if I had a sick child. Probably also be quicker to drive to Belfast.
I'd probably end up getting medical care abroad where ever in Ireland this is located.
Irish medical care is far too expensive for normal people.

(Cheap flights - long may they last)
 
It would be interesting to hear from parents who have brought children for urgent treatment to say Crumlin.
I brought my seriously ill child from Kilkenny to Crumlin, many years ago, it was a nightmare journey.
How are country people to find the Mater hospital, not to mention driving through the traffic to get there.
Look what IKEA did, they are easy to find off the M 50. But they are a commercial outfit and are trying to make it easier for their customers to find it.

Oh is that not important to a childrens hospital to be able to find it?? Browtal
 
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