Maternity hospital windfall as €7.5m promised by Simon Harris

In a major win for doctors at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) who have been battling to reduce appalling gynaecology waiting lists, Health Minister Simon Harris has committed to support a plan that will see a €7.5m capital investment over the next three years.

The news comes on the 10th anniversary of the opening of the country’s newest maternity hospital which, after a decade, finally has its own management and its own budget, independent of Cork University Hospital (CUH) — essentially the control the hospital had been seeking.

The interaction with Mr Harris followed a series of Irish Examiner reports highlighting the impact of excessive waiting times on women with serious gynaecological problems, where outpatient waiting lists had climbed to over 4,300.