HSE chief says governance concerns will not stall new maternity hospital

HSE boardroom concerns about the make-up of the board of the new National Maternity Hospital (NMH) were not stalling the €500 million project, HSE chief Paul Reid said.

Mr Reid said that HSE board members had raised concerns about the proposed governance structure of the new hospital and this had been passed on by chairman of the HSE to Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly.

The HSE chief was responding to questions about a report in the Sunday Times that the start of construction on the new hospital in south Dublin had been delayed over concerns that St Vincent's Healthcare Group will have control over the project.

The NMH is relocating from Holles Street to the St Vincent’s hospital campus.

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Speaking on RTÉ yesterday, Mr Reid said the HSE board's audit and risk committee had carried out a "very thorough, detailed assessment" of how the board of the company behind the new hospital would be made up.

Concerns

The concerns reported back to the Minister centred on how the board would comprise from members from St Vincent’s, four members from the NMH and an independent chairman, said Mr Reid.

The HSE board had not taken a vote or position on the matter but concerns were fed back to the Minister during the “iterative process” behind the project.

Mr Reid said that the matter would not result in a delay in the construction. “It hasn’t stalled anything on it . . . It has merely been a point-in-time feedback with the process,” he said.

The latest issues are not connected to the concerns previously expressed about the possibility of the religious ethos interfering with health services at the new hospital given the role of the Religious Sisters of Charity.

The charity owns the site but plans to surrender ownership of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group and the land to a new entity that will lease the land to the State.