Government must choose between public or private candidates when selecting a site for the new national hospital, writes Fiona Tyrrell
A plan for a new children's hospital in Sandyford, south Dublin built by the private-sector Beacon Medical Group (BMG) but run by St Vincent's Hospital is among submissions received by a Government-appointed group considering an appropriate site for the new €500 million national children's hospital.
The task group will make its recommendation on the future location of the new hospital to the Health Service Executive (HSE) board in the first week of April.
The intense competition among Dublin's major hospitals for the right to build the new national children's hospital became public at a press conference last Tuesday when Tallaght Hospital, one of the hospitals in the running, unveiled what it had submitted to the HSE.
Now the group behind the private sector Beacon Hospital in Sandyford has told The Irish Times that it has been in discussions with St Vincent's about joining forces to provide a facility on a 22-acre site in south Dublin.
A spokesman for the group says the site will not only be capable of housing a children's hospital but also a maternity hospital if necessary.
While the exact location of the proposed site has not been revealed, the spokesman says it is close to the Beacon Hospital, which is due to open in September. It is also close to the proposed Luas extension to Cherrywood and to the M50, he says. Subject to the planning process, the hospital could be operational in three years, he says.
The hospital would be led by St Vincent's, but BMG would "get it up and running", he says.
BMG would build the facility and the Government could then lease or buy it, and Vincent's could run it. "We can deliver a state-of-the-art fully equipped paediatric hospital in a cost-effective and timely manner on an accessible site," he says.
Describing the proposal as "very exciting", the BMG spokesman says it has many attractions, not least the speed at which it could be done and the accessibility of the location.
This is the main point of BMG's primary submission to the expert group, however, if the criteria for an academic hospital, as outlined by the McKinsey Report, should change, the group could provide the children's hospital in conjunction with the 183-bed Beacon Hospital.
Seven Dublin hospitals are understood to have expressed an interest in becoming the site for the national children's hospital. They are St James's, St Vincent's, the Mater, Connolly, Beaumont, Tallaght and, of course, BMG.
While some of the hospitals competing for the facility have vowed to remain tight-lipped about their submission, others have opted to go public on their own plans.
First out of the blocks was Tallaght Hospital, which is already home to the existing National Children's Hospital, and also claims it could build the hospital in three years. Tallaght claims it is the only location that meets all of the requirements set by the Government's own experts for the facility.
In its submission, Tallaght says it has ample space for the facility, pointing to a seven-acre site to the front of the hospital where the new hospital could be built. It also has at its disposal a five-acre piece of land adjoining the current hospital, which South Dublin County Council has offered to it, and it could be a site for a maternity hospital.
Tallaght's tradition of caring for children, combined with its experience of an adult hospital, would provide the basis for a hospital of international excellence, Tallaght Hospital chiefs say.
Prof Ian Graham, chairman of the hospital board sub-committee on the paediatric review, points to the hospital's track record in merging with other facilities. It makes "enormous sense" to locate the hospital at Tallaght, which has the youngest population in Ireland, he says.
Other hospitals, however, are choosing not to comment on their submissions to the HSE. A spokesman for St James's has confirmed that it has made a submission and is looking forward to meeting the expert group over the next fortnight. However, he would not be drawn on the contents of its proposals.
Likewise St Vincent's Hospital, Blanchardstown, the Mater and Beaumont hospitals have declined to reveal details of their submissions to the HSE.
Last month, however, Beaumont chief executive Liam Duffy said a strong case for locating the hospital on the Beaumont campus could be made, citing the hospital's location close to the M50, N1 and N2 as well as the hospital's "significant expertise" in a number of specialist areas of paediatric medicine.
As the political wrangling heated up last week, John O'Brien, chairman of the joint task group charged with recommending a location for the new hospital, said the group was completely objective.
"Any suggestion that this group has prejudged anything is completely misplaced. Our fundamental consideration is what is best for the children of Ireland and not what is deemed best for individual institutions," he said.
A HSE spokesman says the outcome of the process is open and objective to the point that the "ultimate outcome may even be a decision to locate somewhere other than an existing hospital site". He is keen to point out that the selection process is not a "bidding or tender process nor is it confined simply to hospitals".
As part of its work, the task group has sought information from Dublin City and county councils, the Office of Public Works and children's interests groups to inform the decision-making process.
While not in the running for the new national centre, Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin was among groups to make submissions to the group. In these it states that the new children's hospital should be co-located with a maternity hospital and acute adult hospital.
Describing discussions with the adult hospitals competing for the centre as "generally positive", a spokeswoman for Our Lady's says it has not indicated its "exclusive support for any of the draft proposals presented to it by the six adult hospitals in the Dublin region".
History
Revised plans for a single national children's hospital were announced in February following the publication of a report which found that the State, given its population, could support only one world-class paediatric hospital.
Entitled Children's Health First, the study of international best practice in specialised and general hospital-based paediatric services was carried out by consultants McKinsey and Company.
The study concluded that the national centre should be located in Dublin, close to a leading adult academic hospital with space for future expansion and must be easily accessible through public transport and the road network.
The news came as a surprise. By opening the door to adult teaching hospitals instead of just the three children's hospitals in Dublin located at Crumlin, Temple Street and Tallaght, previous strategies for the development of paediatric service in Ireland were thrown into disarray.
Plans were already in place to move Temple Street Hospital to the Mater campus and to rebuild Crumlin Hospital. These have been put on hold.
At the time of the launch of the report Prof Drumm argued that the new hospital could be built for a lot less than the €700 million required to fund these plans.