Co-locating maternity hospitals on the sites of acute hospitals is in line with international best practice, and helps ensure that mothers have immediate access to a full range of medical and support services, should the need for such services arise.
In 2015, following a review, I accepted the recommendation of my Department to relocate the Rotunda Hospital to the Connolly Hospital campus. One of the issues considered during the review was ambulance access and the campus was found to be suitable to host a maternity hospital, including from an access point of view. However, the project is still in the very early stages and further consideration will be necessary across a range of issues as the project develops. The Deputy may wish to note that the Rotunda has established a Clinical Vision and Scope Working Group to scope out the design requirements for the new hospital.