Action needed to make hospital plans a reality

When Health Minister James Reilly says that it would not be right for him to prejudge anything that might come out of the latest review of the plans for a new National Children’s Hospital, he never said anything truer.

However, as we know from the failure of this Government to implement any of the commitments it made prior to the last election, we should take a lot of what we hear with a grain of salt.

However, as this decision is far too important, let’s hope he does not speak with forked tongue.

We have been waiting for a National Children’s Hospital for a very long time. Indeed, services were allowed to deteriorate in the existing hospitals whilst we waited for government to act.

The debate on this hospital has been controversial from the outset, and as Roy Keane would say, “proper preparation prevents poor performance”.

That there was no proper preparation was underlined when An Bord Pleanála decided to reject the proposal to build the hospital on the Mater site in north inner city Dublin due to the size and scale of the structure, and on the implications for traffic and parking among other things.

We can also be sure that it would create chaos during the construction phase as well. Funny, but it seemed to come as a total surprise to those involved.

Many of those who were pro the Mater location initially chose to ridicule and rubbish the An Bord Pleanála decision and the reasons for its rejection of the plans. Some even went so far as to suggest that government, a-la any good banana republic or Soviet era dictatorship, should change the law and over-rule An Bord Pleanála.

These folk, eminent and otherwise, would have been much better placed if they had listened to what they were hearing from the proverbial dogs in the street.

The level of opposition to the Mater location was so great that any sensible person would wonder if there was in fact something in it. Chairmen of the development committee even resigned or were replaced.

That is why we should have concern for the terms of reference that will determine the work that will be undertaken by the yet to be formed “Expert Group”.

So far only the chairman has been appointed and he is, inter alia, a former HSE chairman, Dr Frank Dolphin.

Before and since the rejection we have heard that all of the proposed facilities including education and research were required and should not be eliminated. Yet that has not stopped some of those wanting the Mater location from saying that this, that and the other can be reduced in scale or eliminated. Even Dr Reilly was heard to suggest a scaled down version.

Such talk simply undermines the original reason for its scale and its level of integration.

There are a number of actions we need to see from now. The first is that we, the voting and tax-paying public, should see the terms of reference.

Why should they be hidden unless there is something they do not want us to see?

Secondly Board Pleanála must be involved from the get-go, rather than everybody being surprised yet again if a different result to that expected emanates.

Thirdly, the location chosen must meet the required criteria rather than try and shoehorn the hospital into an unsuitable area to satisfy personal agendas, pride or indeed any other political considerations.

As Dr Reilly has said we need to build something that we will be proud of for 100 years. It’s all far too important for us not to do the right thing, even if it’s only this once. It can be built by late 2016 as Enda Kenny wishes — but only if we really want it to be, and we make it happen.

[e-mail]