Photograph: Julien Behal/PA
Ireland can only support one world-class children's hospital based on its population size, a report published today has said.
The report, Children's Health First: International Best Practice in Tertiary Paediatric Services, recommends such a hospital be in Dublin close to a leading adult academic hospital, with space for future expansion and easily accessible through public transport and the road network.
The Health Service Executive (HSE) is to act on the report's findings, and a decision on where to locate the new specialised hospital will be taken by it in the next two months.
Although HSE chief Prof Brendan Drumm and Mr John O'Brien, director of the National Hospitals Office, today refused to be drawn on where the facility is likely to be located, it is expected it will be at Temple Street Children's Hospital or at Tallaght Hospital.
Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin is effectively ruled out by its distance from an adult hospital.
The study emphasised that providing a critical mass of adequate care for seriously ill children is the most important factor in delivering the best outcomes for children.
It argues this provision can only be achieved through one national tertiary paediatric centre, as part of an integrated service, that would also provides all secondary paediatric services for the greater Dublin area.
These secondary services would be supported by A&E facilities around Dublin or Urgent Care Treatment Centres.
The report took into account international best practice in paediatric care services and examined over 15 leading paediatric care centres in Australia, Canada, Scandinavia, the UK, US and New Zealand.
It also involved analysis of academic and policy papers in relation to tertiary paediatric care and interviews with paediatric experts from around the world.
Prof Drumm said he was gladdened and surprised by the positive reaction to the report from the children's hospitals and the maternity hospitals. He said bringing manpower and expertise together in one centre would make it easier to manage outreach services . He said he envisaged doctors travelling to centres around the State to treat seriously ill children.
"In Canada and New Zealand, a country of similar population, doctors bring services to patients. We need to look at the use of helicopters to do that if necessary and it is critical that our road network be improved," he said.
Asked how long it would take to build the new hospital, Prof Drumm said once the site of the new facility had been identified, a time-frame on its completion would be put in place.