HISTORY AND INFORMATION

Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin is an acute paediatric teaching hospital with 248 beds, employing over 1,500 staff.  It is Ireland's largest paediatric hospital and is responsible for the provision of the majority of tertiary care service for children including the national centre for cardiac surgery and haematology/oncology, major burns, medical genetics  and medical research for childhood illnesses.

The Hospital provides a high standard of care to the children availing of its service.  The services provided are underpinned by a commitment to medical and nurse education and to the development of the skills of staff generally. 

In November 1956 the Hospital opened and was specifically designed to care for and treat sick children. The hospital is built on a site of approximately 5 hectares which was provided by the Archbishop of Dublin. 

The Hospital is involved in the teaching of all disciplines of healthcare staff.  Undergraduate medical students from University College Dublin, The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Trinity College Dublin receive their training in paediatric medicine at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin. 

In 2006, the provision of children's nurse registration education programmes transferred from the School of Nursing at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin to the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems in University College Dublin.  A report commissioned by the Health Service Executive then recommended that continuing education needs of children's nurses would be provided  through a dedicated Centre using a 'hub and satellite' structure.   

The hub of the Centre of Children's Nurse Education is located in Our Lady's with satellites in the Children's University Hospital, Temple Street and the National Children's Hospital, Tallaght.   The Centre of Children's Nurse Education is to provide continuing education for children's nurses and appropriate staff in the three children's hospitals, the Dublin catchment area and specialist programmes related to children's nursing nationally

Research is a fundamental component of all paediatric disciplines and the provision of a specialised research facility must be an integral part of a modern comprehensive children's hospital.  The Children's Research Centre at this hospital provides well equipped laboratory facilities for the investigation of the biological basis of childhood disease.  The quality of research carried out at the centre is best recognised by its international reputation in paediatric medicine and in its publications.  The services and specialist medicine provided at the hospital have been significantly developed over the years.

The Children's Medical & Research Foundation http://www.cmrf.org/ at Our Lady' is the fundraising umbrella for both the Hospital and the Research Centre and is dedicated to the improvement of children's health.  The Foundation's function is to inspire and support the philanthropic spirit in individuals and organisations.  It invests our communities' contributions in outstanding paediatric care, research and education to help children at Our Lady's, and throughout Ireland.

Since its establishment the Hospital continually expands and develops is services and infrastructure in the provision of optimal evidence based health care in order to meet the growing needs of the children and families.

The Hospital treats on a yearly basis over 24,500 inpatients and day cases, 30,100 Emergency Department attendances, 76,000 Out Patient attendances and performs over 13,500 operating procedures.

Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin is in discussion with the HSE and Department of Health & Children, Children's University Hospital and the National Children's Hospital on the merge and relocation of the three Dublin Paediatric Hospitals onto one site providing world class expert acute paediatric care to the children of Ireland.

Over the past year 2007/2008 Our Lady's major new developments included:

• New MRI Facility
• New Haematology/ Oncology Day Unit
• New Gardens for the National Children's Burns Unit
• Extension to Our Lady's Hospital Special School
• New Cardiology Out patient Centre
• Children's Transition Care Unit
• Extension to Diabetes & Endocrine Centre
• Extension to the National Centre of Medical Genetics
• Extension to the Children's Diabetes & Endocrine Centre
• New Adolescent Den for CF Patients
• Improved Parents Accommodation

Our Lady's Children's Hospital will continue to provide the highest standards of health care to the children of Ireland.