The outgoing government has serious questions to answer following the resignation of the interim chief executive of CHI, which could result in further delays to the opening of the National Children\u2019s Hospital, according to Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats.<\/p>\n
Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI am deeply concerned at reports today that the interim CEO of Children\u2019s Health Ireland (CHI) has resigned. This comes at a critical phase of the development of the National Children\u2019s Hospital project, which has been beset by unacceptably long delays and scandalous cost overruns.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Health must now account for the Government\u2019s inexplicable failure to appoint a permanent CEO to the role, who will be responsible for overseeing the monumental task of merging the three existing children\u2019s hospitals into the new development at St James\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far back as April, a confidential report prepared by consultants KPMG raised troubling questions about the HSE\u2019s readiness to commission and operate the National Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis report highlighted gaps in senior leadership teams, a lack of clarity around the future operating model and resourcing of the hospital, as well as a drift in completion dates. However, of particular concern was the absence of a permanent CEO for the new hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the Government has been keen to put most of the blame on developer BAM for delays to the project, the absence of a proper management structure, including a permanent CEO, is their failure \u2013 and their failure alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe outgoing government must now clarify how far plans have progressed to identify a new chief executive for CHI and confirm when this appointment will be made. It would be unconscionable if lack of planning and preparation further delayed the treatment of sick children in the new hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
November 25, 2024<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The outgoing government has serious questions to answer following the resignation of the interim chief executive of CHI, which could result in further delays to the opening of the National Children\u2019s Hospital, according to Jennifer Whitmore of the Social Democrats. Whitmore, who is the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, said: \u201cI am deeply concerned at reports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8778,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[540,11,268,649,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-children","category-health","category-jennifer-whitmore","category-national-childrens-hospital","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n