Sir, - Your report May 18th, and previous reports over the years, continue to expose the major problems of the new hospital in Tallaght. This hospital project was to be a flagship state-of-the-art teaching hospital to replace the very famous Meath Hospital, The Adelaide Hospital and the National Children's Hospitals. This was the hospital over which a major battle was fought and won on the voluntary hospital fields.
Do your readers realise that there will be a loss of 120 acute medical beds (almost one-third less than are available at present)?
Do your readers realise that the sickest patients in our community, when admitted to the casualty departments around Dublin, may have to wait 24 hours or more on a trolley before obtaining a ward bed?
Do the people of Dublin not think it wise to insist on delaying the opening of the new hospital, at least until the 70 beds which have been under negotiation for the past year have been built?
A building site is not the ideal environment for sick patients, yet the out-patient extension will not be completed until the end of the year. This is a teaching hospital yet medical student facilities will not be available in June.
Many of the consultant staff have made major international reputations for their departments through their research. Your readers may be surprised that no facilities will be available for research at least for the next two years.
My own speciality is diabetes and as senior physician, chairman of the Diabetes Federation of Ireland and vice president of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, I was surprised to learn in December that the specially designed diabetes centre had been re-allocated to other specialities. In January this error in management was rectified in that the diabetes centre was reallocated back to its original home until such a time as an area of equal "functionality" could be found. This area has now been found. Guess where? In the middle of the Geriatric Department, displacing the geriatric team serving the most vulnerable of our population.
You are correct to suggest that our confidence in this hospital has been undermined (May 18th). The sick of Dublin deserve better.
I would suggest that the move to the Tallaght Hospital be postponed until: the outpatient department has been completed; the 70-bed unit has been completed; the teaching centre has been completed and; the research centre has been completed.
Then we would have the opportunity to move into a hospital which has the potential to develop the fine traditions of the Adelaide, Meath and National Children's Hospitals in delivering state-of-the-art medicine. The people of Dublin would have a hospital of which they could be proud. - Yours, etc., Prof Gerald H. Tomkin, MD FRCP FRCPI FACP,
Fitzwilliam Square,
Dublin 2.