Niamh Griffin: New children's hospital's basic benefits should have been here well before now

Some parents who advocated the loudest for the new hospital will not see the benefits; because their children are grown now, or passed away, writes Niamh Griffin

A drone image of the new children's hospital. The new hospital will provide many improvements for patients and their families, but a lot of those benefits should have been in place already.

While the new children’s hospital will bring many changes, some are so basic that one has to wonder why families were left to struggle for so long without them.

On a rainy day last week, construction and medical experts stood on what will be a roof garden for the seven-storey structure. They talked about filtered air systems, hybrid operating theatres and high-spec critical care units.