Hospital site a risk to children, says top doctor
A leading said he fears for the lives of children who will be stuck in traffic trying to get to the hospital, rather than getting the urgent treatment they need. Fin Breatnach, who retired as the country’s top cancer specialist for children last year, said the proposed hospital, on the site of the Mater near Dublin’s O’Connell street, would be “a disaster”.
The site is about 1.5km from Croke Park and near one of the busiest streets in the country. In an interview on www.irishhealth.com yesterday, Mr Breatnach said: “It is supposedly going to be the only A&E centre for children open for 24 hours, 365 days a year for the city. We are very concerned about parents trying to access the hospital in the middle of a concert or a football match. I’ve been there, I know what it’s like, traffic is at a standstill... I fear very, very much for the lives of these children.”
