Consultant paediatrician Dr. David Mullane has spoken out to condemn the facilities in the children's unit of Cork University Hospital which he believes are stuck in the last century and should be demolished.
Despite the fact that the children's unit hosts one quarter of all hospital activity, the service receives just 3% of the hospital budget.
Chipped furniture, parents sleeping on chairs, and no en-suite facilities for children who are in isolation with infectious diseases are just some of the flaws in the unit highlighted by Dr. Mullane.
The unit is the biggest children’s hospital facility outside of Dublin, and is reported to be as busy as Tallaght or Temple St hospitals.
There are fears amongst hospital staff that if the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) carry out an inspection of the unit, which has yet to be done, that the children's facility would not pass the assessment.
Dr. Mullane is leading a fundraising campaign to improve the services for children at Cork University Hospital and he spoke to Pat on the programme this morning:
