The Health Minister has told an Oireachtas Health Committee that the death of a ten year old Cork girl who contracted Strep-A is "heartbreaking" and says he will look into having a paediatric ICU in Cork if a clinical case is made for one.
Vivienne Murphy from Millstreet died at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin in 2019.
The schoolgirl was initially treated at Cork University Hospital and was eventually transferred to Temple Street due to the lack of a critical care unit for children in Cork.
Vivienne's parents said the transfer took hours and say it doesn't make sense that Cork doesn't have a paediatric ICU.
Cork TD Colm Burke raised the issue at an Oireachtas Health Committee yesterday and said planning is in place for such a unit in Cork and asked when funding can be allocated for it.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly says the country already has a centre of excellence at the National Children's hospital but said CUH does need significant investment.
"There is planning with CUH rightly have secured, but the funding still has to be lined up in terms in terms of signing off on final design, going out to tender and then building it.
"What I can tell you is that I fully support both the paediatric unit at CUH, but CUH needs a lot more than that. They need a subsantial additional number of beds, they need a substantial upgrading of their oncology unit, they need the new trauma centre with the helipad,
"There's a very significant amount of investment needed in CUH."
