HOLLES ST DECISION WELCOME BUT DELAYS WERE UNNECESSARY

Labour Party Senator and spokesperson on Dublin, Kevin Humphreys, has welcomed the news that a new National Maternity Hospital will finally be built at St. Vincents.

“I have been calling for some time for construction to begin on the new National Maternity Hospital at Elm Park as a matter of urgency”

“I am glad a resolution has been found through a golden share arrangement following the appointment of Kieran Mulvey as a mediator.”

“However, this issue had festered for a year, and could, and should have been quickly resolved long ago. This has caused unnecessary delays in the delivery of a new hospital.”

Plans for the new facility were delayed in a dispute over who should have governance control at the proposed site on the campus of St Vincent’s Hospital.

Senator Humphreys noted that the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, has previously produced a damning report on Holles Street hospital – not on the staff but on the conditions, including overcrowding.

“There are ten delivery wards for nearly 10,000 births when one should have at least 24 delivery wards. What is planned for the new hospital at St Vincents is 24 delivery wards for a demand of 10,000 births. Only down the road, Holles Street is struggling with ten delivery wards for 9,000 births.”

“It is critical that a new hospital is built as quickly as possible before costs spiral out of control as has happened with the National Children’s Hospital.”