Dr. Emma Curtis:

I thank Mr. Gunning. When the healthcare planning happened, it took into account current service provision and unmet need, that is, the limitations of current infrastructure and what you might optimally have in a new environment. It also looked at Central Statistics Office, CSO, population data up to 2041. It also looked at developments in paediatric care and what it was felt was coming down the line. The other piece that was useful was the HSE had commissioned a review of intensive care services. That was carried out by an intensivist from SickKids in Toronto. That was also useful and informative because that had been a review of paediatric intensive care services and where they needed to go. Given all that, the decision was made that 60 intensive care beds were likely to meet future need. Obviously however, medicine progresses and a new initiative in the new hospital is a neonatal intensive care department that is separate to paediatric intensive care. We currently look after sick neonates but they are looked after within paediatric intensive care.

The future hospital, however, will have an 18-bed neonatal ICU unit. One thing that is evident is that year-on-year there is an increase, and a very welcome one, in the survival of very premature infants. These children are vulnerable, however, and often have medical and surgical comorbidities. Therefore, the plan was that 60% should meet our needs. This would not be with full occupancy. The projected occupancy of ICU is 75%, whereas that of standard bed units is 85%. Obviously, we do plan for some spare capacity, but we planned a greater spare capacity in the ICU because it is a limited resource. The plan is that this would be sufficient. In the design of the hospital, though, the ICU occupies two-thirds of the large hot block. I may not be exactly precise about that two-thirds estimation, but at the other side of the building there is an extensive piece of soft area, which is currently designated for workspaces. Therefore, there is an obvious expansion capacity within the current building design, should that be required in future.