To the Children, Young People and Families in Our Care
To the Children, Young People and Families in Our Care.
16 Meitheamh 2025
We know that many of you may have seen recent media coverage and reports about Children's Health Ireland (CHI), including serious issues and concerns raised in audits, reports and internal reviews.
First and foremost, we want to reassure you. Our doctors, nurses, health professionals and support staff across CHI are dedicated, skilled, and deeply committed to caring for children and young people. Every day, they work tirelessly to provide care with compassion, professionalism and integrity.
We also want to be open and transparent with you. CHI takes accountability to the public and the families it serves extremely seriously. The internal report examining serious issues from 2021 has been the subject of significant attention. While the legal situation around releasing the full report is complex, we want you to know that the concerns raised in that report have been and continue to be addressed. Important actions have been taken, and we have published details of those actions to assure you that improvements have been made.
We are committed to working closely with the Minister for Health, the Department of Health and the HSE, and—most importantly—you, our families, to ensure all children have timely access to safe, high-quality care.
There has been immense change underway across all CHI sites for the last number of years, with the merging of teams, processes, policies, practices and cultures. Where cultural and interpersonal issues are identified, CHI responds with specific interventions to address these issues. While the culture at CHI has come under criticism, and we know there is more work to do, we also see many powerful examples of kindness, teamwork, and clinical excellence across our hospitals, every day.
The CEO and the Board continue to actively review the culture across our hospitals, to foster a positive and supportive environment.
Since joining the organisation at the end of January 2025, our CEO, Lucy Nugent, has begun making changes to strengthen corporate and clinical governance and improve how we work. Right now, our immediate focus is on addressing the operational issues that matter most to patients and families. But we are also building a stronger foundation for the future.
CHI’s Board and Executive team are committed to the transformation programme underway and wish to assure the public of their commitment to provide quality care, with a ‘one team’ approach, across all CHI services, and importantly, as we prepare for our new children’s hospital. CHI is undertaking a huge programme of work to ensure a safe and efficient transfer and operation of services. As the national provider of critical paediatric health services in Ireland, we are focused on delivering care and ensuring that this new facility, the services provided and the way we do things meets the highest standards for children, young people, and their families.
Thank you for continuing to place your trust in us. We are listening, we are learning, and we are acting. Every child deserves the very best care and we are absolutely committed to that.