New children’s hospital officially named “National Children’s Hospital Ireland”
- Foilsithe:
- An t-eolas is déanaí: 25 Meitheamh 2025
The Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill T.D. has announced that the new children’s hospital is to be formally named as the National Children’s Hospital Ireland (NCHI).
Currently under construction, the National Children’s Hospital Ireland will be the largest and most advanced children’s hospital in Ireland. It will bring together the services of the existing children’s hospitals, Temple Street, Crumlin, and Tallaght, under one roof, delivering world-class care in a state of the art, digitally-enabled facility.
The name reflects the vision of the new hospital being a hub in a national network of paediatric care, which will work with regional and local paediatric units to ensure equitable access to healthcare for all children, as close to home as clinically suitable.
The name was chosen following engagement with a number of stakeholders, including the Youth Advisory Council whose members help to inform policy and service development by sharing their experiences of Children’s Health Ireland hospital services.
Minister Carroll MacNeill said:
“Our state-of-the-art Children’s Hospital will be called the ‘National Children's Hospital Ireland’. This name was chosen, in consultation with parents, families, staff and the Youth Advisory Council. I am grateful for their inputs and for the simplicity of the name chosen.
“When a parent or guardian is getting off a train at Heuston or Connolly and getting a taxi for their child’s appointment, they’ll be able to say: ‘take me to the National Children’s Hospital Ireland’ and there will be no doubt about where they are going.
“This hospital is the most significant capital investment programme undertaken in the healthcare system in Ireland, clearly showing the Government’s commitment to investing in children and young people. It will provide world-class facilities where our healthcare professionals will deliver optimal care, leading to better health outcomes for all. This is a much-needed and much-deserved investment in our children and young people.
"I recently opened the Dr. Kathleen Lynn Cataract Unit at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital reflecting our healthcare goals; greater access, shorter waiting times, and clinical excellence. I look forward to discussing the ways we can honour her work within the National Children's Hospital Ireland."
Notes
Facilities
The new children’s hospital will be a state-of-the-art facility and a key enabler of a major strategic reform of healthcare services for children and young people, which is fully aligned with Sláintecare strategy. It will bring together the three children’s hospitals into one, consolidating expertise, research excellence, and educational facilities to ensure the best outcomes for the children of Ireland.
The new children’s hospital will provide:
- 39 clinical specialities in one location
- 380 inpatient beds
- 300 general inpatient beds
- 60 critical care beds (88% increase from the current 32 beds)
- comprised of 22 cardiac, 20 paediatric, 18 neonatal (50% increase from the 12 neonatal high dependency beds currently in CHI)
- 20 CAMHS beds (new capacity)
- 93 daybeds (18% increase from the current 79 beds)
- 22 operating theatres and procedure rooms (47% increase from the current 15)
- 300 seat lecture theatre
Each of the general in-patient rooms has an ensuite and a parent/guardian bed to facilitate them to stay overnight with their sick child. The CAMHS beds and critical care beds have parent accommodation available nearby.
The hospital will also provide patients with primary and post primary schooling to ensure that there is no disruption to education while a child is in need of treatment.
The new hospital will be supported by the satellite centres at Connolly and Tallaght, which opened in 2019 and 2021 respectively. These two centres provide ambulatory care and outpatient clinics for children in the Greater Dublin Area and represent major milestones in regard to reform efforts around paediatric care.
In May, Connolly Hospital reached the milestone of having seen and treated over 100,000 children and young people since opening in 2019.
Naming Process
The naming process involved stakeholder interviews, lessons learned analysis, and rigorous assessments of the extensive collateral captured through the previous naming project to provide the grounding for what the new children’s hospital means to its many stakeholders.
The methodology was designed with the following principles in consideration: engagement and inclusivity, mindful of the history / lessons learnt, and time and cost effectiveness.
Feedback was received from the Family Advisory Network (FAN), the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) and multi-disciplinary groups within Children’s Health Ireland (CHI).
About the Youth Advisory Council
The Youth Advisory Council (YAC) is a group of young people aged between 13 and 22 years old, who share their experiences as users of CHI hospital services in order to inform policy, practices, research and the development of services both within CHI and on a national basis.
About the Family Advisory Network
The Family Advisory Network (FAN) was formally established after the Family Forum Meeting in April 2023. It was co designed by a small working group of CHI staff and CHI parents. The purpose of FAN is to involve families in CHI Projects, Design, Education and Groups.