Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Stephen Donnelly. There were 13 contributors, which shows the great interest in the national maternity hospital. I acknowledge the relatives of the 1916 Relatives Association. The people who were involved in the 1916 Rising and the War of Independence were an amazing group. My grandmother was a member of Cumann na mBan. I come from a republican background so I understand how important that period is. Many years ago, my grandmother stayed with us not long before she passed away. She was well into her 80s at that stage and asked to be taken to see Eamon de Valera. I was obviously on the other side to him but she said they had a lot more in common than separated them. I met de Valera as a very small child. The people up to the War of Independence were an amazing group. It is something that is very close to me. Women made a tremendous contribution at all levels to the foundation of our State across every area, which I am very conscious of.

The undertaking of a children's hospital project and programme shows the commitment of the Government to develop paediatric services for children and young people. The Minister for Health acknowledges the importance of the naming of the new children's hospital as a key enabler in the strategic reform of healthcare services for children and young people for generations to come. A clear name and identity are essential for identification purposes to enable the organisation to raise awareness of services and imbue the name with positive messages and associations. To go back to the point raised by many as regards the naming of the hospital, we all accept this hospital will make a phenomenal difference to patient care for children. The Government will not oppose the motion. Children's Health Ireland is currently undertaking a branding process following which the Government will make a decision on the naming of the new children's hospital in due course. It is a Government decision.

I will take the opportunity to bring focus and attention to the important topic of the new children's hospital and to update the House on the strategic importance of that hospital and progress to date. The hospital will truly transform what paediatric care is delivered in Ireland. The new children's hospital building is at the heart of this transformation and is informed by the paediatric model of care. It will bring acute and paediatric hospital services and specialities in Children's Health Ireland under one roof for the first time leading to improved outcomes and better experiences for children, young people and their families. It is a much-needed and much-deserved investment in children and young people, and in the dedicated staff working in children's healthcare who are currently providing excellent care. The much-needed reform will support the delivery of expert tertiary and quaternary care and treatment for all children and young people, who represent 25% of the population, in world-class state-of-the-art facilities.

The national children's hospital will provide 39 distinct clinical specialities all in one location.We are building something unique in the history of our healthcare system in Ireland. It will act as a hub for acute paediatric care and services nationally with clear links to all regional and local paediatric units. The paediatric model of care strongly advocates this integrated networking structure with the new children’s hospital acting as a hub for acute paediatric care nationally. Within this framework the new children’s hospital will have robust links with regional and local acute paediatric units fully aligned with Sláintecare. The new children’s hospital will also have a positive impact on paediatric healthcare for the island of Ireland, providing tertiary and quaternary paediatric services on an all-island basis, where agreed between the Department of Health and the Department of Health in Northern Ireland. The hospital and wider network will substantially develop children’s and young people’s healthcare within the wider Sláintecare vision, providing the right care in the right place at the right time for children and young people throughout Ireland for generations to come.

On completion, the 12-acre main hospital site at St. James's Hospital will consist of a seven-storey structure with 6,150 internal spaces, of which 4,600 will be clinical rooms. There will be 380 individual inpatient en-suite rooms, all of which will have a dedicated place for a parent or guardian to sleep. They will make it easier for families with children or young people who need to stay in hospital overnight and in some cases for much longer periods. The new children’s hospital will have 60 critical care beds and 93 day beds, 22 theatres, including specialised theatres for cardiac, neuro and orthopaedic surgery, 110 outpatient examination rooms, and four acres of outdoor space for children and their families spread across 14 gardens and courtyards. It will have 1,000 underground car-parking spaces. The new national children’s hospital will be Ireland’s first digital public hospital with significantly streamlined medical records that will be securely accessed through electronic health records.

Sustainability has been embedded into the design of the new children’s hospital. It is one of the few hospital buildings in the world to have been awarded the BREEAM excellent rating in design. BREEAM is a world-leading sustainability certificate scheme for buildings. The design positivity addresses resource demand. It considers and addresses issues related to emissions, waste streams, noise, air quality, transport and ecology impact. These designs will ensure that the new children’s hospital is fit for purpose for generations to come.

With regard to satellite centres, we are already seeing investment in development in the new children’s hospital with two new paediatric centres in Tallaght and Connolly hospitals, helping to reduce waiting times for children, young people and their families. In 2022, more than 22,000 children presented to the urgent care centre at CHI in Connolly hospital. In the first three months of this year, 6,088 children presented to the urgent care centre at CHI in Connolly hospital. Some 15,000 outpatients attended in Connolly hospital in 2022 and 3,168 attended in the first three months of this year. More than 36,000 children presented to the emergency care unit in CHI Tallaght, with 8,614 presenting in the first three months of this year. CHI Tallaght had more than 4,000 outpatients in 2022, with 1,457 attendances in the first three months of this year. Both of the satellite centres provide a new model of care fully aligned with Sláintecare, ensuring the right care is provided in the right place at the right time.

I will ensure I finish within the requisite time to allow the proposer of the Private Members’ motion, Senator Fitzpatrick, time to come back in.

Children’s Health Ireland will take all steps to ensure the optimisation of the operational period post substantial completion. The integration of services across the existing health sites is the first step in the integration programme, which includes the ongoing provision of cross-city services in operational structures and clinical directorates. Children’s Health Ireland manages the provision of services with a citywide approach across all sites through a patient flow solution that matches patient unscheduled admissions to beds and tracks their movements.

I also highlight the children’s health strategy for research 2021 to 2025 which is the first instalment of a multiyear initiative to implement academic healthcare and provide child-centred research-led and learning-informed healthcare and a high standard of safety and excellence.

We want to see the children’s hospital open as quickly as possible. The Department and the HSE are working with the contractors to progress the hospital in a streamlined way. It will take six months to commission once construction is complete.

I thank the House for the opportunity to discuss the important topic of the new children’s hospital and address the progress made to date as well as plans for the future. I will take back the points raised to the Minister. They were made in a genuine way. The critical point is that we all want to see the national children’s hospital open and operational for the children of Ireland on an all-Ireland basis as quickly and efficiently as possible.