Moving Children’s hospital from Tallaght to Mater is illogical

The planned centralisation of paediatric care by setting up a national children\'s hospital at the Mater site the North side of Dublin will result in transfer of services from Tallaght, Crumlin and Temple Street. The idea of a centralised specialist service is indeed the way to go and will hugely benefit families with sick children. However this should be done in a proper way and at a proper location. It is of critical importance that all factors affecting quality of care for our little one should be taken into account. In this case, moving children\'s services from Tallaght to Mater site is illogical and will put children\'s lives at unthinkable risk.
Mater Hospital is at the centre of the city of Dublin, which is often incredibly traffic infested particularly at pick times. According to a TCD research, it is likely that the majority of trips to the new hospital will be a national referral centre, which people will be accessing from around the country, and to which the bulk of journeys are likely to be by car. In the event that a child develops serious emergency conditions requiring immediate medical attention, the journey from Tallaght to Mater may prove to be fatal. While the McKenzie report recommended a central, specialised paediatric service, accessibility should be prioritised in choice of location. Related to this, is availability of parking spaces which Mater site doesn’t have .If the majority of people going to Mater hospital are going to drive, the parking, accommodation, rest areas within short distances should be considered. Yet Tallaght hospital is on the Luas line has hotels, restaurants and the square shopping centre within walking distance.

Tallaght has the largest growing child population in the country and also has the highest number of women of child-bearing age. It makes sense to preserve and upgrade the National children\'s hospital at Tallaght Hospital. Tallaght hospital catchment area goes beyond Tallaght itself, people from all over entire Dublin South West attend the hospital. Dublin South West is outside the M50 and has a greater expansion space than the city of Dublin. The majority of the patients will obviously be coming from outside the city of Dublin, making a strong case for an outside, accessible location.

Mater site allows for limited expansion space of around 21% in the next few years. Ireland population is evidently growing and this will no doubt increa

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