Dr. Emma Curtis:

That Deputy is correct. A patient will come into the waiting area, be triaged and placed in the appropriate clinic. A patient suffering trauma would be sent directly to x-ray. There is a separate flow for major trauma and major illness and resuscitation rooms that are not used for general activity. This would be an operational division rather than a physical division.

As the Deputy is aware, the CHI at Connolly Hospital and at Tallaght Hospital are urgent care centres. The likelihood is that there would be an operational differentiation in what is the large department in the new children's hospital whereby there will be a streaming of children who are of an urgent care triage-type category and then children who have more significant illnesses or injuries. Operationally, one will get a separation of children. There is the provision of both standard isolation rooms where there is a concern that somebody has something significant but also then a more sophisticated isolation room if there is a concern that somebody has a very serious infectious disease. The design has been set up so that there is rapid flow through so that people are dealt with quickly, the waiting times are short and people are directed to the appropriate clinical assessment room. There is a separate stream for resuscitation and there is also provision for highly infectious diseases.