Coombe outlines site plan

The Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital needs almost €50 million to modernise its facilities, but this money would be better spent on a brand new facility, its master has said.

Dr Chris Fitzpatrick said it would be "far more prudent" to invest in a new hospital, co-located on the St James's Hospital site.

He warned that the hospital, which he termed "seriously sub-optimal", is not sustainable as a standalone facility in the long term.

If given the go-ahead, the new hospital could cost up to €160 million. It is understood that the Coombe is arguing the cost could be offset by selling off the existing site on which it stands and which it owns.

Both hospitals have submitted a joint co-location proposal to management consultants KPMG, which is currently undertaking a review of maternity services in Dublin for the Health Service Executive (HSE). The KPMG review is expected to report this year.

The plan envisages a 27,000 square metre hospital, similar in size to the existing Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital, which it has been called since January 1st, on a brownfield site already identified at the nearby St James's Hospital.

The site is not a big one - it is low rise and low density. However, both hospitals believe that there is sufficient space for such a facility. This is despite the fact that St James's has been identified as one of six hospitals where a private hospital will be built on site under Health Minister Mary Harney's controversial co-location proposals.

The Coombe management board hopes the cost of the proposals, estimated at €160 million, could be offset by the sale of the present Coombe site at Dolphin's Barn - the hospital owns the site - and that improvements which are needed at the hospital could instead be carried out in a new hospital.

"There is a requirement to have €46 million worth of infrastructural work done on this hospital," says Fitzpatrick.

"We would feel in view of the complexity of care that is required, in terms of patient safety alone, the way forward is for us to co-locate on to the site of an adult academic hospital.

"Co-location would increase the availability of some specialist services, such as haematology, cardiology and radiology services, which would be immediately available to us for patients who would have complex care requirements."

Fitzpatrick said there would be serious cost-savings in the long term in having both hospitals, which are currently less than a kilometre apart, co-located on site.

"There are significant non-medical co-location advantages that we have developed in this model with St James's Hospital," Fitzpatrick said.

On January 1st, the hospital changed its name to the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital. Last year was its busiest, with it delivering 8,504 babies, and 2008 could be another record. Fitzpatrick said the figures underline the hospital's case for extra resources.

"We need to provide additional space in terms of privacy and in terms of patients coming into the labour wards and patients being accommodated on the ante-natal and post-natal wards," he said.

"We need to have increased space in our neo-natal intensive-care unit. There is also a requirement for additional space in terms of infection prevention and control."