Sir, – New proposals from the Religious Sisters of Charity, the owners of St Vincent’s Healthcare Group (SVHG), do nothing to allay serious concerns about the ownership, governance, and clinical independence of the new publicly-funded National Maternity Hospital (NMH).
They want to change the board composition of the planned new NMH, and increase the lease it will grant to the State from 99 to 299 years.
The number of NMH directors on the board of the new hospital company (NMH DAC) will be reduced from four to just three out of a total of nine. A further three of the nine will be public interest directors. However, all company directors are subject to company law and their fiduciary duties are owed to the company rather than to the appointing shareholder.
SVHG insists it must own the site for “clinical, governance and operational reasons”. SVHG’s unyielding position to date on ownership clearly reveals how land ownership is critical to ensuring the independence of clinical practice and appropriate governance. Extending the length of a lease over the site offers no reassurance, it is ownership of the land that is crucial.
There is not a single hospital anywhere in the world built on land owned by a Catholic organisation, whether lay or religious, which provides procedures forbidden by universal Catholic teaching. Can anyone seriously still believe that the new NMH at Elm Park will be the sole exception in the world?
Ministerial promises guaranteeing that women will be able to access all legal reproductive health services at the new hospital cannot be accepted under current plans, not least because of the legal protection underpinning conscientious objection in medical practice. Having closely followed the controversy surrounding this project for several years, it is our firm belief that the State must own the land at Elm Park if it is to proceed with the NMH project on that site.
The Sisters of Charity must agree to sell the site at Elm Park to the State, or the State must utilise its power to issue a Compulsory Purchase Order to acquire the land. The NMH project is a test of the resolve of this Government.
A public national maternity hospital is the only way to guarantee that women will have access to modern reproductive healthcare, independent of Catholic ethos and private business interests. This Government must not fail the women of Ireland again.
– Yours, etc,
Dr PETER BOYLAN,
Former master, NMH,
LINDA KELLY,
Campaign for Better
Maternity Care,
ORLA O’CONNOR,
Director, National
Women’s Council of Ireland
SIOBHÁN O’DONOGHUE,
Director, Uplift,
JO TULLY,
Campaign against
Church Control
of Women’s Healthcare.