Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

236. To ask the Minister for Health if he is aware that the parental accommodation at Our Lady's hospital in Crumlin in Dublin 12 is at such a low standard that parents, after spending the whole day with their sick son, were placed in a room which had sick on the bed and floor, and which provided one single bed with no pillow or blanket for the two parents; and if he will allocate sufficient funding to the hospital to ensure it will provide an adequate standard of accommodation for parents, who must be with their children 24 hours a day, seven days a week. [28184/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is acknowledged that parental accommodation at Our Lady’s Hospital Crumlin is not adequate. That is why the new children’s hospital accommodation will be designed to ensure that children and young people receive their care in the best organised and most clinically suitable setting. The planned accommodation will include facilities for inpatients, day care patients, outpatients, operating theatres and emergency care. All of the in-patient beds at the new children’s hospital will be single en-suite rooms with in-room parent accommodation. In addition a 52 bed family accommodation unit for families of long stay patients is to be included in the planning application. This is a separate building, the construction and operations of which is proposed to be funded through a charitable foundation with experience in delivering these services.

The new hospital will be co-located with St James's Hospital, and ultimately tri-located with the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, which will re-locate to the campus in due course. In addition to the main hospital, the project includes two satellite centres at the campuses of Tallaght and Connolly Hospitals.

Design development for the hospitals and satellite centres is ongoing and a planning submission is to be made in the coming weeks. Subject to planning, work is scheduled to commence at the main site at St. James's, and at satellite centre sites at Connolly and Tallaght, in early 2016.

In relation to the specific case raised, I have asked the HSE to respond to you directly. If you have not received a reply from the HSE within 15 working days please contact my Private Office and my officials will follow the matter up.