Fears Maternity Hospital construction will affect patients

It is feared construction of the new National Maternity Hospital will have a negative impact on patients.

The facility is to be moved to the campus of St Vincent's by 2020.

However, management of St Vincent's have written to the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar, to say they want to be reassured existing patient care there and future plans to develop are not affected.

The letter is understood to have been written towards the end of June, but has only become public knowledge overnight.