Maternity hospital appealed for help over severe disruption caused by marathon events

Ken Foxe

The State's main maternity hospital appealed for help from the Health Minister over severe disruption caused by events like the Women’s Mini-Marathon and Dublin City Marathon.

The master of Holles Street Hospital said there had been “innumerable circumstances” where patients and staff had been unable to get to the hospital.

He said they were often redirected at barriers and forced on a “much more circuitous route” with one incident causing a near miss with a patient.

In a letter to Dublin’s Lord Mayor in 2023, Professor Shane Higgins said he was worried about a repeat and the possible impact on “health and safety.”

He wrote: “Such an event occurred where a patient needed to be transferred from the National Maternity Hospital to St Vincent’s for immediate care.

“[For the] staff called in to the hospital and organising for the patient to be transported out proved to be enormously problematic.”

Professor Higgins said he was copying his letter to the Health Minister Stephen Donnelly because of what he said was a “very serious problem".

He said events that caused them issues included the Dublin City Marathon, the Women’s Mini-Marathon, and the Pride Festival.

Professor Higgins said the roads beside the hospital were often closed for a “protracted period of time and on some occasions, the junction is closed for the entire day".

The hospital master said they had numerous meetings with the events team of the council and the gardaí.

He wrote: “We do not believe it would be a major inconvenience to these events if they could be moved a block or two in an alternative direction to avoid the traffic restrictions that are in place around the hospital.”

In response, the deputy chief executive of Dublin City Council, Richard Shakespeare, said a new policy and procedure had been put in place for large and medium scale events in the area.

He added the policy document had been prepared in consultation with council officials, Dublin Fire Brigade, An Garda, and the emergency planning department of the HSE.

“I would like to thank you and your staff for your input into the attached policy,” Mr Shakespeare said.

The policy included setting up a hospital control centre that would work closely with event organisers who were given a “duty of care” to ensure services were not affected to an “unmanageable level".

Organisers also had to consult with the hospital at least four weeks in advance of an event to work on a plan to provide easy access for staff and make sure patients and visitors were notified of possible delays.

Asked about the discussions, a spokeswoman for the hospital said that there had been positive and constructive engagement over how best to run such events.

She said: “[These have] ensured that access to the hospital has significantly improved during these events.”