HSE head criticises Mater chairman for 'affront'

The head of the Health Service Executive, Prof Brendan Drumm, has attacked the chairman of the Mater hospital in Dublin, accusing him of giving the impression that the process which led to the new children's hospital being located there was "a sham".

In a letter to Mr Des Lamont, Prof Drumm said that comments by Mr Lamont were "a direct affront to the integrity" of the HSE and the Department of Health.

In June, the HSE and department announced that the new national children's hospital would be located at the Mater, after consultants said there should be one super national children's hospital.

The decision followed intense competition among the main hospitals in Dublin to win the right to get the prestigious €500 million project.

On Friday last, Mr Lamont, who is chairman of the hospital's Board of Governors, was at a ceremony at the Mater attended by the Taoiseach. Mr Lamont said Mr Ahern had given a commitment that a new children's hospital would be developed there and he thanked him for honouring that commitment.

Mr Lamont also said that it was hoped that the project could be finalised by September 2011, to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Mater hospital.

Prof Drumm, in his letter yesterday which was copied to all the main Dublin teaching hospitals, said any suggestion the decision was because of what the Taoiseach had said was "a direct affront to the integrity" of the members of the Department of Health/HSE group which recommended the site for the new hospital earlier this year.

He also said that Mr Lamont had been "disingenuous, presumptuous and unhelpful in the extreme" in publicly suggesting that the new children's hospital could be completed by 2011. He maintained that timeframes for the development would be set by an independent body.

In a letter of reply to Prof Drumm last night, Mr Lamont said he had referred to a commitment made by the Taoiseach to the development of "a" children's hospital on the Mater campus. He said that his reference to a completion date was a direct reference to the "target date" of September 2011 - the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Mater.