Vincent’s group chair: Holles St team was ‘stringing us along’

SVHG insists single governance structure is essential for two hospitals to run effectively

Jimmy Menton, chairman of the St Vincent’s Healthcare GroupFergal Phillips

The National Maternity Hospital (NMH) tried to “string us along” and “embarrass us” into signing planning permission for the proposed maternity hospital, the chairman of St Vincent's Healthcare Group (SVHG)has alleged.

The comments from Jimmy Menton came as positions hardened in a dispute over governance of a proposed new state-of-the-art national maternity hospital – involving a €150 million relocation of the existing Holles Street facility to the Dublin 4 campus run by SVHG.