Sir, – I note the letter from the clinical directors at Beaumont hospital (October 25th) indicating their support for Connolly Hospital as the ideal site for the new hospital. Beaumont has indeed provided excellent paediatric care in certain limited areas, as they outline. However, the new paediatric hospital needs to be linked to a maternity hospital.
In the current constrained budgetary environment I think it highly unlikely that the State will build a new maternity hospital in Blanchardstown in the foreseeable future. In my opinion, the new hospital must be located immediately adjacent to an established functioning maternity hospital. The Coombe Women and Infants hospital is the obvious choice with the nearby St James’s providing the adult element. – Yours, etc,