History of Our Hospital

Hospital Board

Directors of Tallaght University Hospital Board

A Statement of Information Practices at Tallaght University Hospital

Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) is committed to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information. This page sets out how the hospital will handle your personal information. If you require additional information, you can read our Data Protection Statement by clicking here. 

Legal Basis

In processing your personal information, TUH must comply with legislation which includes, but is not limited to, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Freedom of Information Act 2014. We are committed to complying with all applicable privacy laws which govern how TUH collects, uses, discloses and stores your personal information.

What is Information Governance?

Information governance is the set of standards we must follow in handling personal healthcare records. Good information governance means that all personal health information is handled legally, securely, efficiently and effectively, in order to deliver the best possible care to people who use our services. It also includes, where appropriate, the sharing of relevant personal health information with our healthcare providers.

What does it involve?

Information governance at TUH covers a number of areas and activities. These include the following:

• We must manage our records efficiently and effectively.
• This means that information should be accurate, up-to-date and accessible when it is needed
• We must ensure that information is kept securely and is accessed only by those who should be accessing it.
• We must protect the confidentiality of the information.
  Information provided in confidence should not be used or disclosed in a way that might identify an individual without their consent and/or a legal basis for processing
• Patients have a right to access health information about themselves
  For further information on how to do so, please click here  

Why do we need information about you?

In order to provide you with the highest quality of healthcare, TUH needs to keep records about you. These records may include the following information:

• Personal information
  For example your name, date of birth, next of kin, contact details etc.
• Contacts we may have had with you
  For example, information on clinic visits, hospital admissions etc.
• Notes and reports on your health
  For example, information on treatment and care you need and/or may have received either directly from us or from other care providers such as a primary care team or your own GP
• Results of investigations
  For example, X-rays, blood tests etc.

What will we use your information for?

Our staff who provide healthcare to you will use this information in a number of ways.  These include, for example, to:

• Confirm who you are when we contact you or when you contact us
• Make decisions about your ongoing care and treatment
• Make sure your care is safe and effective
• Check the quality of your care
• Ensure a safe care journey through our hospital and onto other care providers if required

Do I have a choice? 

If you want to receive safe and appropriate care and treatment at TUH, we must maintain an accurate record of relevant information about you. If you have concerns, however, about providing information, or how we share this information with our healthcare providers, please discuss this with our staff so you fully understand the impact on your care or treatment.

Do you share information about me with anyone?

In providing care, we may share relevant information about you with other organisations. These include, for example,

• Other hospitals that are involved in your care and treatment
• Your GP
• Community Healthcare services
• Local authorities
• Primary care
• Pharmacy

When we do share your information with other organisations involved in your care, we do so under formal agreement about how it will be used, kept confidential and safe. We will not disclose your information to any other third party without your permission unless there are extenuating circumstances (for example, if the health and safety of others is at risk, if there is a legislative requirement for us to pass on information, etc.).

Information may also be used in non-clinical ways. These include, for example, to

• help manage finances (for example, billing, costings, etc.)
• teach and train our staff
• manage and plan our services
• perform clinical audits
• help investigate concerns or complaints that you and/or your family may have about your healthcare

Wherever possible, TUH uses information that would not identify you personally.  In this way, it aims to use anonymous information.

Do you use my information for research?

TUH is an academic teaching hospital associated with Trinity College Dublin (TCD). We support and promote research activity throughout our hospital. Most importantly, research plays a vital role in the development of healthcare and the health services we deliver.

Our Research Ethics Committee must approve research before it takes place. If we wish to use your personal information for research, we will ask you for permission first. You will not be identified in any published research or results without your agreement.

Can I see the information you hold about me?

You have the right to access information TUH holds about you. The GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Freedom of Information Act 2014 all allow for you to access the information we hold about you.

You may access a copy of your personal healthcare records in either of two ways. These are as follows:

For information on accessing your personal information under data protection legislation, please click here.

 For information on accessing your personal information under the Freedom of Information Act 2014, please click here.

Data Protection Officer (DPO)

TUH has a Data Protection Officer (DPO). Should you have any questions about how TUH uses your information, or you are concerned about any issue relating to your personal data, you may contact the DPO in any of the following ways:

Tallaght University Hospital Child Safeguarding Statement

Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) is committed to promoting the safety and wellbeing of all children in our care. Child protection is the responsibility of all staff and to support this there are a number of mechanisms in place. The Hospitals practice is informed by Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children, DOH 2017. The guidelines for practice currently in TUH are a collaborative set of guidelines that are underpinned by the National Guidance. It is mandatory for all staff to be familiar with these guidelines and complete HSE Children First training.

TUH has an active Children First Implementation Committee chaired by the Deputy Chief Executive. TUH also complies with the Garda Vetting requirements in the recruitment of staff to the Hospital.

TUH will continue to strive to ensure all Children are cared for in a safe, secure and caring environment. Copies of the TUH Safeguarding Statements is available via this link. 

If you have any queries regarding child protection in the Hospital please contact the Hospital Social Work Department on 01 414 2462. This line is open from 9am-5pm Monday to Friday.

Patient Community Advisory Council (PCAC)

Established in 2013 the Patient Community Advisory Council (PCAC) was set up with the support of the Executive Management Team of TUH. The PCAC is dedicated to the improvement of quality in patient care at TUH and help support the Hospital’s values.

The group meets eight times a year provides an opportunity for the Hospital to hear directly from patients, users of our services on their experience during their patient journey with the Hospital. Provide feedback on current systems and processes in the Hospital and give their thoughts on new systems being introduced and generate new ideas to improve the standard of care.

The PCAC is composed of groups representing the Community along with staff of the Hospital.

Declan Daly - Patient Representative & Chair of the PCAC

Declan has a MBs in Co-operative and Social Enterprise and has worked in the financial sector for over 20 years in both voluntary capacity and also as a CEO.

Due to a long term chronic health condition, Declan became involved with the Living Well Programme as a participant, became a Volunteer Leader and has now completed his Master Training in Chronic Disease Self-Management and Cancer Thriving and Surviving.  Declan has now shifted his focus to the Community Sector and is currently the Lay Co-Coordinator for the Living Well Programme with Fettercairn Community Health Project.  Declan brings his understanding of the difficulties associated with reduced mobility to the PCAC and has the ability to articulate the voice of members within his community who have similar mobility issues.

Declan is committed to improving the role of the community in the development of TUH and its services, he is also the patient representative on the Quality, Safety & Risk Management Board Committee (QSRM) for the Hospital.

Colette Spears – Community Representative

Colette Spears, Traveller Primary Health Care Project Co-ordinator, with Tallaght Travellers Community Development Project. 

The Project works with over 200 families across Tallaght doing health promotion particularly on cardiovascular disease, diabetes and on mental health services.  Colette has a long history of working with Travellers to address the social determinants of health such as access to quality health care services and for culturally appropriate accommodation.

Samantha Griffin – Community Representative

Samantha is the Coordinator of the Tallaght Health Project, role for over four years, she has a degree in Addiction & Community Development and a strong background in mental health, addiction, and community engagement. She previously worked as a Roma Housing & Health Worker in Tallaght for two years and served as a manager with Sophia Housing, supporting individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Having grown up in Tallaght, Samantha is deeply passionate about promoting positive health & wellbeing in her community. She leads a range of inclusive health programmes tailored to local needs, coordinates the We Can Quit programme for the area, and hosts the annual Tallaght Health Fair. Through both professional expertise and lived experience, she is committed to empowering marginalised groups and fostering a healthier, more connected community.

Áine Lynch - Director of Nursing & Integrated, Tallaght University Hospital

Áine moved from the Adelaide Hospital to TUH on the day it opened on June 21^st 1998. She has spent almost two decades working in several positions at Tallaght including Clinical Nurse Manager II in Trauma Orthopaedics, Clinical Facilitator in Orthopaedic Nursing, Nurse Practice Development Advisor and Nurse Practice Development Co-ordinator in the Adult Services. In her earlier career, she also spent five years working abroad in both the UK and Saudi Arabia. 

She moved from Tallaght University Hospital to the HSE in 2016 for just over a year where she initially worked as Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Officer and later held the role of Interim Director at the Nursing and Midwifery Planning and Development Unit (Dublin, South Kildare & Wicklow) for a period of nine months. This provided her with a unique opportunity to support nurses in all disciplines: midwifery, mental health, intellectual disability, public health and older persons care.

Áine was very happy to return to TUH in April 2017 as she believes it maintains a strong focus on ‘people caring for people’. Along with the nursing service, she is also executive lead for the Patient Advocacy, Pastoral Care and Arts & Health Departments and the Patient and Community Advisory Council.

Carol Mullins - Patient Advocacy Co-ordinator & Patient Experience Lead, Tallaght University Hospital

Carol Mullins is the Patient Advocacy Co-ordinator & Patient Experience Lead for Tallaght University Hospital. In this role she represents the patients of the Hospital who want to provide feedback on their patient experience positive and negative. She deals with the medical staff in resolving any questions or queries patients have about their experience during their patient care.

This Hospital service vice was established in 2002 by Carol and she remains the driving force behind the development of the service. The objectives of Patient Advocacy is to represent the patient voice, advise senior management on learnings and continuous improvement projects that can be established based on the evidence of feedback received, positive and negative. This all ultimately leads to the delivery of safer patient care which is the mission of the Hospital.

Carol has over 20 years’ experience working in healthcare. She has extensive experience in the delivery of front line services having worked as Administrative Manager in the Emergency Department before undertaking her current role. She has participated in the Patient Community Advisory Council since its establishment in 2012.

Joanne Coffey - Communications Manager, Tallaght University Hospital

In her role as Communications Manager for the Hospital, Joanne acts as the communications link within the Hospital and also to our surrounding communities, keeping everyone informed of news and events that take place involving Tallaght University Hospital.

A former volunteer tutor with the National Adult Literacy Agency, she has a great enthusiasm for keeping things simple and ensuring any information presented by the Hospital is done in an accessible way. As a member of the PCAC since 2014 she has involved the group in many different initiatives, such as the new hospital website, Know My Medicines and the Tallaght University Hospital Patient App. She makes every effort to ensure that the interests of the patient is at the forefront of everything that is developed by the Hospital.

She is also the key link between the Hospital and community in developing a growing popular series of Public Health Education talks. These events bring various members of speciality medical teams out into the community to educate on various health topics and answer questions from members of the public.

Ciaran Young - Community Representative

Ciaran Young is a lecturer in the Department of Mechanical engineering in the Institute of Technology Tallaght. He is a former patient of the Adelaide Hospital and Tallaght University Hospital. He has been a member of PCAC since 2012 and is currently its’ vice chair, he is also the patient representative on the Sepsis Committee for the Hospital.

TUH Annual Financial Statements

Annual Financial Statement 2025
Annual Financial Statement 2024
Annual Financial Statement 2023
Annual Financial Statement 2022

Government Departments and Public Bodies such as Hospitals are required to publish details of all purchase orders for goods & services valued at over €20,000. This policy is part of the Government's commitment to enhancing transparency in Public Sector procurement.

Vendor Payments Q1 2026

TUH Annual Reports

Annual Report 2025

The 2025 Report, detailing a year marked by unprecedented demand, rising complexity of patient need, and significant improvements in patient experience times. The report reflects the realities of a rapidly growing catchment population and the sustained pressures facing acute care services.

Annual Report 2024
The 2024 Report showcased a year of exceptional activity, innovation and continued commitment to delivering high quality patient care. The report highlights the Hospital’s strategic focus on expanding capacity, embracing digital transformation and strengthening community engagement. 

Annual Report 2023
In 2023 the Hospital reported a 12% reduction in waiting lists. The report also revealed that 84% of patients were waiting three months or less for surgery. This is a significant achievement considering the increased activity levels and demands on hospital services during 2023. 
One of the best indicators of the growth in the Hospital's workload can be seen by looking at the number of patients who attended the Emergency Department (ED) at TUH during 2023. For the first time last year over 55,000 attended the ED. On average it took 32 minutes for patients to be triaged on arrival and most were seen by a doctor within four hours and 29 minutes. 

Annual Report 2022
This report highlights a significant reduction in its waiting times for daycase procedures. The Hospital’s annual report for 2022, reveals there was an 82% reduction in the number of patients waiting longer than 12 months for a daycase procedure. Overall this particular waiting list fell from 262 in January 2022 to 48 in December 2022. This was primarily as a result of the Hospital opening its new Reeves Day Surgery Centre.

Annual Report 2021
The comprehensive report outlines what was achieved by the staff, management and board of the Hospital in a year which saw the continuation of a pandemic and a crippling cyber-attack on the national healthcare system. The Hospital was fortunate that it had previously invested in the digital infrastructure protected the organisation from the conti cyber-attack, initially access to national systems were halted but the internal network continued to function. This enabled hospital staff to work with minimum disruption to patient care. 

Fraud & Corruption

As a publicly funded entity TUH is accountable to the public for the provision of health services in an open and honest manner. You can read a full copy of our Board Statement on Fraud & Corruption via this link.

Patient Charter

Our patient charter is based on the national healthcare charter. It focuses on the things that most in a patients care: access, dignity and respect, safety, good communications, involvement, privacy, better health and accountability.

This charter explains both a patients rights and responsibilities when they are a patient in TUH. The Charter also reflects our care values of Collaboration, Achieve, Respect & Dignity.

It tells you want you can expect from us as we work to provide safe, timely & effective care and how you can help us to deliver the best possible service for all patients.

Capital Development Plans

Looking towards building a sustainable, modern healing environment
Built in 1998 Tallaght University Hospital opened serving a community of approx. 62,121 people. The Hospital now services a population of over 640,000 people and is consistently operating with a deficit of beds. With census forecasting this demand will continue to increase with the number of people aged 75 or over in Tallaght increase by 322% over the next 20 years. To put this in perspective the number of people aged 75 or over in South Dublin will increase by 170% in the same time period.

The Hospital has a series of planned capital developments to enhance the infrastructure and environment for patients, their families, the public and staff. 

This presentation outlines the Hospitals plans.

Tallaght University Hospital (TUH) is a model 4, voluntary, academic teaching hospital partnered with Trinity College and situated in south west Dublin. With a staff of over 4,000 people from 63 different nationalities, it provides both acute and tertiary care to an increasing population of circa 800,000 people and is part of the newly established HSE Dublin & Midlands Region. The Hospital operates under the governance of an independent Board of Directors who give their time on a voluntary basis. TUH is also supported by the Adelaide Health Foundation, the Meath Foundation and Tallaght University Hospital Foundation.

The Hospital provides access for patients to over 20 medical and surgical specialties, with comprehensive on-site Laboratory and Radiology support services. It is also a national urology centre, the second largest provider of dialysis services in the country and a regional orthopaedic trauma centre.

Tallaght University Hospital is one of two main teaching hospitals of Trinity College Dublin - specialising in the training and professional development of staff in areas such as nursing, health and social care professionals, emergency medicine and surgery, amongst many others.

Tallaght University Hospital is a Voluntary Hospital underpinned by the legal status of a Chartered Corporation established under Statutory Instrument, providing adult services and serves approximately 200 General Practitioners. Mental Health services operate on-site under HSE governance structures, with close operational alignment to the adult services provided by Tallaght Hospital.

The Trinity Health Ireland (THI) collaborative agreement underpins Tallaght University Hospital’s valued relationships with Trinity College Dublin (TCD), St. James's Hospital, and the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital. Uniquely, Tallaght University Hospital operates within two Hospital Group Structures — the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG) and the Children’s Hospital Group (CHG) — and within Dublin South Central Primary Care Community Health Organisation (CHO) Area Seven. Tallaght University Hospital has long-standing strategic and operational alliances with Naas General Hospital and Peamount Healthcare,
among other healthcare providers within the region.

The Tallaght University Hospital Campus is 31 acres in size, with significant future development capacity, annual gross expenditure is in excess of €0.25bn.

The Hospital opened on June 21st 1998 through the amalgamation of three independent voluntary hospitals: the Adelaide, the Meath and the National Children’s Hospital (NCH). Founded in 1839, the Adelaide Hospital was famous for its nursing school; the Meath Hospital, the oldest voluntary hospital and the oldest university teaching hospital in the country, was founded in 1753; and the NCH, the first dedicated children’s hospital in Ireland and Britain, was founded in 1821. The Adelaide, the Meath and the NCH have a long and proud history of providing specialist services to patients in Dublin. Many of the Hospital’s core strengths today originated from national and regional specialist services developed in these base hospitals, including; Urology, Orthopaedics, Nephrology and General Paediatric services.