Media Contacts:
Dr. Fin Breatnach: fin.breatnach@gmail.com
Dr. Roisin Healy: drroisinhealy@gmail.com
Who We Are: Founded in 2008, the New Children’s Hospital Alliance (NCHA) is a group of health professionals, parents, grandparents, ex-patients and other interested persons from all over Ireland who wish to ensure that the correct decisions are taken regarding the location of the new National Paediatric Hospital (NPH). Children must be central to all considerations of the development of their new hospital.
New Children’s Hospital Alliance Goal: As a nation, to provide the highest quality of care for our children as measured by patient outcome and patient experience.
More than four thousand supporters registered over a 5 month period with our website in support of our campaign to have an independent review of the process of the choice of Mater site. Registration finished in March 2011. [Sadly, the Taoiseach reneged on Fine Gael’s pre-election promise to review “the entire process” opting instead in June 2011 for a limited financial review using three comparator ‘notional ‘sites, and a clinical analysis which did not address its terms of reference].
Our website www.thenewchildrenshospital.ie is designed to record the debate so far and to reflect our serious concerns -concerns originally regarding the process which led to the decision to locate the hospital on the site of the Mater Campus, and now, since the rejection of the Mater site by An Bord Pleanála in Feb 2012, with the continued blinkered obsession of the Dept. of Health with placing the only truly national hospital in the country on the grounds of a adult hospital. Other more important requirements for children are sidelined while the ambitions of adult institutions are given free play.
Letter to the Irish Times, July 2010, from some of our members in support of Maurice Neligan’s article in The Irish Times:
Madam, – We, the undersigned, like Maurice Neligan (Irish Times, HEALTHplus, July 27th, 2010), have had the privilege of spending most of our professional lives caring for sick children. Between us we have worked in all three Dublin children’s and maternity hospitals, in Irish regional and county hospitals and in many leading paediatric hospitals in North America, Australia and the UK.
We, like him, believe that placing the national paediatric hospital on the geographically constrained Mater site in Dublin’s city centre is not in the best interest of the sick children of Ireland. – Yours, etc,
Dr FIN BREATNACH, paediatric oncologist
Prof KARINA BUTLER, infectious diseases paediatrician
Dr GERRY CANNY, respiratory paediatrician
Dr BILL CASEY, paediatric anaesthetist
Dr COLETTE CORCORAN, public health medicine
Mr FRANK DOWLING, spinal and orthopaedic surgeon
Dr DESMOND DUFF, paediatric cardiologist
Prof RAYMOND FITZGERALD, paediatric surgeon
Mr ESMOND FOGARTY, orthopaedic surgeon
Prof EDWARD GUINEY, paediatric surgeon
Dr SINEAD HARTE, paediatric anaesthetist
Dr ROISIN HAYES, paediatric radiologist
Dr ROISIN HEALY, paediatric emergency medicine
Dr JERRY KELLEHER, paediatric radiologist
Dr PEADAR MACMANAIS, ophthalmologist
Mr ANDREW MAGUIRE, ENT surgeon
Mr DAVID MOORE, orthopaedic surgeon
Mr JACQUES NOEL, orthopaedic surgeon
Dr PAMELA O’CONNOR, paediatrician and neonatologist
Prof BARRY O’DONNELL, paediatric surgeon, past president RCSI
Prof NIALL O’DONOHUE, FTCD, emeritus professor of paediatrics, TCD
Dr EITHNE PHELAN, paediatric radiologist
Mr FERGAL QUINN, paediatric surgeon
Dr MARY WALDRON, paediatric nephrologist.
Irish Times – 30.07.2010
The following missed signing the letter due to time constraints. They have requested that they be associated with it:
Prof JOE McMENAMIN, paediatric neurologist, Prof of Paediatrics, RCSI
Dr ANNE O’MEARA, paediatric oncologist
Dr MARGARET SHERIDAN, neonatologist and paediatrician
Prof CONOR WARD, Prof emeritus of paediatrics UCD.
Independent Review Campaign, Nov.2010-March 2011
Prior to the General Election in 2011 we ran a campaign calling on the government to have an Independent Review of the site selection for the new children’s hospital. This campaign closed with the election of the new government and its promise to hold such a review.
The subsequent so-called “Independent Review” of July 2011 did not address the core issues. It was, in the opinion of our association, a white-wash. (see ‘Independent Review’ page on this website)
Below are the fliers used in the campaign. Please note that registration for support of the campaign closed March 2011.