Crumlin hospital revamp could cost €500m

Infrastructure: The redevelopment of Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, whether on its existing site in Crumlin or elsewhere in Dublin, will cost up to €500 million, according to estimates drawn up for the new secretary general of the Department of Health in recent weeks.

The internal Department of Health briefing document, seen by The Irish Times, indicates the planned redevelopment of the hospital will be the most expensive healthcare project in the history of the State.

The briefing, prepared for the secretary general, Michael Scanlan, maintains that the infrastructure of Our Lady's in Crumlin "does not meet current standards for a paediatric hospital facility".

Plans for the redevelopment of the hospital have been under consideration for some time. However, the briefing prepared for Mr Scanlan confirms that in April the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, gave the go-ahead for an examination of the feasibility of alternate sites for the hospital.

Mr Scanlan was told by department officials that this site-appraisal exercise would take approximately four months to complete.

A previous plan found that existing clinical services for children could be retained and developed on the existing site in Crumlin.

However, under this plan, the entire project could have taken 11 years to complete, including a three-year preconstruction phase and eight years of building work.

Parent groups and hospital staff expressed concerns over the timescale for the project and the impact construction work would have for patients in the existing facilities.

However, the department briefing for Mr Scanlan maintained that "total redevelopment of facilities in Crumlin (or the development of new facilities elsewhere) is likely to cost in the region of €400 million to €500 million".

The current most-expensive healthcare project - the redevelopment of the Mater hospital (including the provision of a new children's facility to replace Temple Street Hospital) - is likely to cost around €400 million. It was reported at the weekend that a number of private sector business consortiums have expressed interest in the development of a children's hospital for the south side of Dublin.

One such plan would involve the merger of the existing Coombe Women's Hospital and a new facility for children on a site on the South Circular Road in Dublin. Under this plan, the existing public hospital sites would be sold for development.

There has also been speculation that the consortium behind the private Beacon Clinic in south Dublin could be interested in developing a children's hospital. There have been reports that the paediatric facilities at both Crumlin and Tallaght hospital could be amalgamated.

The controversy over the death of two-year-old Rosin Ruddle, who died while awaiting heart surgery at Crumlin, has given new impetus to the redevelopment of Our Lady's Hospital.

Last week, The Irish Times revealed that the hospital had drawn up ambitious plans for the development of cardiac facilities for children but feared that these proposals could be hit by the Government's current cap on employment in the health services.