Children's hospital site

Madam, - In response to Fintan O'Toole's picking apart of the flawed plan to have a high-rise children's hospital in the centre…

Madam, - In response to Fintan O'Toole's picking apart of the flawed plan to have a high-rise children's hospital in the centre of Dublin city (Opinion, March 20th), does the hospital task group's mere cursory consultation with international experts point to some pathological fear of foreign experts recommending a "not invented in Ireland" solution?

Prof Harry Kennedy's suggestion (March 13th) of a campus-style "health park" is an excellent idea. A greenfield site would allow greater freedom and creativity in the design, would enable greater scope for development in years to come, and would provide a more healing environment.

Such a campus hospital is what the Tasmanian Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment task group is currently favouring over a city-centre site. This should provide a quality benchmark since the standard of health care in Australia is widely considered to be excellent. - Yours, etc,

NIALL O'DONOGHUE, Vesilahti, Finland.