Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The National Rehabilitation Hospital, NRH, in Dún Laoghaire, Dublin, provides complex, specialist rehabilitation services to patients who, as a result of an accident, illness or injury, have acquired a physical or cognitive disability and require specialist medical rehabilitation. Services include a paediatric programme which is delivered by a paediatric team based on the campus with clinical oversight provided by a consultant paediatrician who is based off-campus at another hospital. Up until recently, this consultant paediatric oversight was provided by a consultant paediatrician at Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, whose contract includes a seven-hour clinical attachment to the NRH.

I am advised by the HSE that the consultant paediatrician in question recently went on unplanned long-term leave and, arising from this unforeseen development, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital is not currently in a position to provide consultant oversight to the NRH’s paediatric programme. In light of this, the NRH has reluctantly closed its inpatient paediatric service on the basis that it is not possible to appropriately assess and triage new paediatric referrals and medically manage paediatric patients without consultant paediatric input. The suspension of this service is impacting on existing inpatients, those on the waiting list for admission, and those who are newly referred to the services and are awaiting assessment by a consultant.

The Children’s hospital group has confirmed that officials are actively working to identify another consultant paediatrician with an interest in disability to fill the vacancy to provide appropriate clinical paediatric oversight to the services provided at the NRH. In the interim, the paediatric team at the NRH continues to offer outpatient and outreach services to children. The NRH and HSE will continue to work closely to seek a solution to this matter.

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