Beaumont Hospital forms an integral part of the General Hospital Care Programme of the Health Services. It is one of the largest major general hospitals providing acute hospital care services for the Dublin area and is located on the Northside of the city. Geographically, three of the hospitals St. James's, St. Vincents and the Adelaide & Meath Hospitals incorporating the National Children's Hospital (at Tallaght) are located on the Southside of the city with Beaumont, the Mater and James Connolly Memorial Hospital located on the Northside. Each hospital partakes actively in the city's Accident and Emergency services and in addition have Regional and National speciality commitments for patients suffering from certain diseases and illness.

These commitments are decided upon by the Department of Health in consultation with the Health Advisory Body of Comhairle na nOspideal which determines the numbers and types of consultant appointments and oversees the rationalisation of medical services. The Department of Health co-ordinates centrally these arrangements to ensure that a comprehensive, integrated range of nationally available services are provided without duplication. The Eastern Regional Health Authority, which was established on March 1, 2000, is the statutory body with responsibility for health and personal social services for the 1.3 million people who live in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow.

History
Beaumont Hospital was planned, commissioned and built in the period from 1978 to 1984. The design of the hospital is almost an exact replica of that used in the building of the Cork University College Hospital (Wilton) in the early 1970's. It is one of the newest and largest acute general hospital in the country and cost over £50 million to build and equip. The hospital opened its doors to the public on 29th November 1987 following the closure of the two city centre hospitals - The Charitable Infirmary, Jervis Street and St Laurence's (The Richmond) which subsequently merged and transferred to the Beaumont complex.
Beaumont Hospital currently has a bed complement of 620 beds. The hospital is the National Referral Centre for neurosurgical patients, Renal & Pancreatic Transplantation and Cochlear Implantation. It is also a Regional Treatment Centre for Ear, Nose and Throat and Gastroenterology patients. The hospital provides a 24 hour continuous emergency call service for its own catchment area of approximately 250,000. An average 60 patients per day are admitted for trauma or elective treatment making it one of the busiest general hospital in the country.

Medical Training
The hospital is the principal undergraduate and postgraduate medical training and research centre attached to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and houses its own undergraduate and post graduate nurse training school. It shares its campus with the College and has very strong academic links with it as most of the Consultants on the staff hold undergraduate or post-graduate lectureships or professional appointments in addition to their clinical caseload.

Management
The hospital is managed by a Board of Management nominated by the Minister for Health & Children comprising of representatives from the Department of Health, HSE, Royal College of Surgeons, local political representatives and representatives from local voluntary bodies. The Board has 15 members and are accountable by law to the Department of Health & Children for the provision of an acute general hospital care service centred around the hospital. The Board's role is to determine hospital policy and priorities in line with the Government's National Policy on Healthcare. The day to day managerial and operational responsibilities of the hospital are entrusted to the Chief Executive who is appointed by the Board and is directly accountable to them. The hospital has a staff of over 2000 people covering approximately 250 disciplines and an annual financial budget allocated by the Department of Health and Children to enable the hospital to function.

Specialities
Beaumont Hospital is the National Referral centre in Ireland for the specialities of Neurosurgery and Neurology. This service is provided by members of the Neuro Sciences disciplines, which include Neurosurgery, Neurology, Neuropsychology, Neuroradiology, Neuropathology and Neuroanaesthesiology.

The Hospital is the National Referral Centre in Ireland for Renal Medicine and Transplantation. Investigation and treatment facilities are provided for patients with various types of kidney diseases, including acute and chronic kidney failure. The Unit has a major commitment to the provision of renal replacement services. Kidney Transplantation is the gold standard of renal replacement therapy. The Unit aims to perform a minimum of 100 kidney transplant operations per year. There is also a close functioning association with the regional satellite units throughout the country.

Other major specialised departments include Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Respiratory Medicine Endocrinology, Vascular and Thoracic Surgery, Ear Nose and Throat Surgery, Opthalmology, Ano-Rectal Surgery, Orthopaedics, Gynaecology and Cochlear Implantation.

Visit the Beaumont Hospital Web Site at: www.beaumont.ie