CHILDREN’S HEALTH IRELAND (CHI), the entity that runs Dublin’s three dedicated children’s hospitals, is set to be integrated into the HSE by 2027.

The change will mean that the new National Children’s Hospital will fall under the governance of the HSE when it is completed. 

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill announced the merge today, saying that a “plan for integrated paediatric healthcare and the policy direction” was necessary ahead of the opening of the new facility

She said that CHI was initially formed to integrate “three very different paediatric hospitals” in Temple Street, Crumlin and Tallaght, with a view to their integration at a specialist paediatric hospital.

“We are very close to that hospital being delivered and operational and it is therefore time to further integrate paediatric care formally into the HSE,” she said.

Founded in 2018, CHI has in its relatively short lifespan been the subject of a number of controversies, most notably the long waiting lists of children in need of spinal surgeries.

Those delays can lead to life-changing impacts on people’s health and even death. 

MacNeill stressed today that the integration of CHI into the HSE would not affect the patients in its care. 

“The most important thing for any young person in the care of CHI or for a parent of child in the care of CHI is that this transition will not impact on your day-to-day care.”