Incorrect name for an Irish hospital

In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a long-lived bird. A phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor

Simon Harris has been urged to rename the Phoenix Children’s Hospital after medical chiefs warned it was insensitive to parents of deceased children whose organs were incinerated after being kept without permission.

The chosen name of the €1 billion national children’s hospital on the campus of St James’s Hospital in Dublin 8 was announced by the health minister last Monday.

It has since emerged that on October 12 the medical board of the three children’s hospitals in the capital warned Eilish Hardiman, chief executive of the body now known as Phoenix Children’s Health, that the name was unsuitable.

They said it would cause confusion at international meetings because there is already a Phoenix Children’s Hospital which is a well-known academic centre in the United States.

“Many also felt that the name was very insensitive to the families of the children whose organs were retained and subsequently incinerated, and would serve as a constant reminder to these families of their loss,” Shoana Quinn, chairwoman of the Joint Medical Board of Crumlin, Temple Street and Tallaght, wrote.

Dr Quinn said that the board had voted unanimously to reject the name.

In 1998 many bereaved Irish parents learnt that the organs of their dead children had been removed and retained by the hospitals where they died, in some cases being sold for research or incinerated with hospital waste. The discoveries led to the €20 million Dunne inquiry, whose report was never published, and a new national post-mortem policy.

Brendan Howlin, the Labour leader, said last night that Mr Harris should rename the hospital.

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