Matt Shanahan on National Maternity Hospital move and regional cuts

Good morning, can I just read an excerpt from the Irish Times, please, from Wednesday, February 16th, 2022. The Taoiseach said the process of relocating the National Maternity Hospital has gone on for far too long. He also said that major health projects need to be delivered much more quickly than they are at present. It is not acceptable, he said. Further, he told the Dáil that there would be no involvement or influence in any way from religious arrogations when the hospital moves from Hollow Street, Dublin, to a site at Elm Park. The Elm Park site would come under the control for 299 years after its transfer to the National Maternity Hospital from St Vincent's Hospital Group under a licensing agreement. Mr Martin said there would be no involvement or influence from any religious organisation, be it Catholic or whatever, in this new facility. End of. So I think it's fair to say, Karen Cora, that religious ethos is not going to be a dominant feature. in the medical politics at this new maternity hospital. Regarding the need for a new Dublin maternity hospital, no one could argue, I think, regarding the needs for an upgrade of maternity services from Hollow Street Hospital. The Minister has outlined it, and indeed people know that building was never designed for the number of patients, the number of possible procedures required, or the development or innovation that has taken place in modern medical therapies, which often times require significant theatre and operating room, space and machinery to accommodate. I think, Karen Cora, no one could argue either that the needs and the safety of mothers and infants in this country should be paramount in our society, and I know we are all agreed on that. But can I raise other questions regarding the development of this hospital beyond its recognised need within the Dublin health care ecosystem? My questions emanate from my interest in health care, particularly in how health care operates in the regions, as opposed to in Dublin or Cork, for example. My first question is, what are the associated proposed costs of this project? Initial estimates some years ago suggested the completed hospital would be built for €400 million. National Press in the last number of weeks is now touting a figure closer to €800 million. Given that we have not completed, nor are even close to a finishing cost for the National Children's Hospital, which will likely top out close to €2 billion, what should the cut-off point of spending on this new national maternity hospital be? I would remind the House that there is mootah to be a second Dublin maternity hospital move required soon, that being the Rotunda hospital possibly moving to Connolly Blanchardstown. And that is before what will surely be the next discussion in National Maternity Services, that being the potential adjoining of some maternity hospital unit to the new National Paediatric Hospital. The issue of shortcomings in terms of dealing with babies who require immediate surgical intervention post-delivery delivery has been well known in Dublin and beyond for years. How long more, I wonder, before the National Capital call out to spend whatever is required to physically conjoin maternity hospital services to the new National Children's Hospital? All the while conveniently forgetting how much has already been committed to this project, all the while conveniently sidestepping that maternity co-location to the new National Children's Hospital site choice was not the primary driver in deciding its location. It was, in fact, ignored, and that deliberate oversight is a stain on the integrity of those who are involved in that decision process, a decision and an unnecessary bill that taxpayers of Ireland and patients nationally will have to continue to suffer for years. It is heartening to know that when it comes to spending money in Dublin, budgets come way down the list of significant political considerations. I might digress to my own hospital, University Hospital Waterford, which I have spoken on many times in this house. It is the south-east regional heart attack centre and it continues, despite all political promises over the last number of years, to still only offer a 39 hours per week cardiac access for emergency cardiac catheterisation. It is still allowing the needless damage to patients as they incurred delay in accessing emergency stenting and other regional centres. Despite this hospital being the most efficient in terms of bed management, patient trolleys, COVID pathways and the entire south-west hospital group, we can garner no-dial debate on why this hospital has the lowest capital budgets of the nine model fours in this country. Despite it having a patient population of over 550,000, no one is asking for an emergency task force to decide granting the resources we need to deal with our 50,000 outpatients waiting list. No one is asking why this hospital has the lowest number of healthcare staff per bed ratio across the entire model fours in this country. Why we should fumble with 2,196 health service personnel, for example Limerick with 3,600 staff, a similar sized hospital but treating a catchment of 100,000 less. No one, it appears, in Dublin or Doyle-Iran has any interest in exploring why UHW, in respect of nearly every business case or capital development it has proposed that would increase its bed allocations or develop additional treatment space, or increase staffing for that matter, why it meets nothing but resistance and deliberate delay in obstruction over years in its desire to develop additional services. I have sympathy for the issues that continue to occupy the building of a new maternity hospital in South Dublin. But my experience and that of South East patients tells me that Dublin medical lobbyists and politicians will find a way to deliver this project. And they will continue to do so, even while they continue to ignore the many valid claims for equity in healthcare spend for citizens of this country, those who live outside the pail. I'm all good.