A planned expansion of the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin will “jump to the top of the queue” of cases to be dealt with under new critical infrastructure legislation, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said.
On Tuesday, the Government announced it had abandoned plans to move the Rotunda to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, and was backing the maternity hospital staying in Dublin city centre as part of a bolstered planning application for a new critical care unit.
The decision came following a ruling by An Coimisiún Pleanála to strike down plans for a €100 million extension of the Rotunda Hospital intended to care for critically ill infants.
In its decision, the planning commission agreed with objectors that the critical care unit would fail to protect the “existing architectural and civic design character of the site, or Parnell Square generally”.
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In their refusal, the commission also twice cited the Government’s co-location policy, which seeks to move maternity hospitals to the sites of acute hospitals.
Speaking on Wednesday, Carroll MacNeill said the co-location policy was based on patient safety but the Rotunda was the “least pressing” because of its proximity to the Mater hospital.
“What I’ve instructed the Rotunda and, indeed the region, to do yesterday was to submit a new application. That new application would now have an additional critical care capacity for women, thereby enhancing the patient safety offering from the previous application,” she said.
The sexual assault treatment unit will also be “significantly” enhanced under the new planning application, she added.
The Minister said these changes, as well as the blue-light passageway to the Mater, will enable the hospital to be “safely” differentiated from the other maternity hospitals.
Carroll MacNeill said the new planning application could be completed by the summer, at which point Minister for Finance Jack Chambers’ Critical Infrastructure Bill is expected to be enacted.
“It’s a better proposal but we’re doing it for the right reasons. There will have to be a measure of redesign, but I will be seeking that this will be the first project designated by the Government and the Dáil as a critical piece of infrastructure,” she said.
“The impact of that is it will jump to the top of the queue in terms of An Coimisiún Pleanála and that will be very important. Because of the size of the application, we will be able to make that application directly to An Coimisiún Pleanála rather than go through Dublin City Council.”
The Minister said her goal was to deliver the most impactful result for the hospital, in the quickest way possible.
Master of the Rotunda, Prof Sean Daly, has welcomed the decision, stating it has “always made sense for us to have close clinical links with the Mater”.
