Innovation

Government approves Phase B construction investment decision for new children’s hospital project

Minister for Health Simon Harris TD today announced that the Government has approved the investment required to enable the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board to instruct the current contractor for Phase B of the works to complete  the building of the new children’s hospital on the St James’s Hospital campus and the two Paediatric Outpatients and Urgent Care Centres on the Tallaght and Connolly Hospitals campuses. 

In welcoming the Government’s decision today Minister Harris said: “The new children’s hospital and the two outpatients and urgent care centres at Connolly Hospital and Tallaght University Hospital are long awaited and I am very pleased that the construction can continue now without delay. The hospital will facilitate the implementation of a new model of care that will have a profound impact on all paediatric services once the new hospital is open,” 

Considerable work has been undertaken on the project since April 2017 when Government gave the green light for the construction of the hospital. Enabling works on the main hospital site are complete and Phase A construction works (substructure works on the main site), which commenced in October 2017, are also now nearing completion.  Following today’s decision, the Phase B 7-storey above ground works will begin early next year.   Development is also well advanced on the paediatric outpatients and urgent care centres.  Works at Connolly are on target for practical completion of the building in Spring 2019 with the opening scheduled for July 2019.  Works at Tallaght are underway with a target handover date of July 2020, and the main hospital to be completed in 2022.   

Integration of the three existing paediatric hospitals, the opening of the OPD and Urgent Care Centres and the transfer of services to the new hospital facilities represent a highly complex project in its own right. The recent establishment of Children’s Health Ireland under the Children’s Health Act 2018 to run the children’s hospital supports the major programme of work of service and clinical integration, people and change management required to run integrated services on the existing hospitals’ sites and commissioning required to achieve a successful transition to the new facilities when they open.  

The Minister also acknowledged that “While I fully support this project, there is no doubt that the additional costs associated with the project are of great concern and we must have assurance that Phase B of the construction project will be delivered within budget and timescale.”

Accordingly, Government today also approved the commissioning of an independent review of the escalation in cost in determining the adjusted contract sum, the contributory factors and associated responsibilities so that any potential weaknesses are identified and comprehensively and speedily resolved in the interests of the successful completion of the project and the effective management of public funds.  The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board will be required to provide on-going assurance to the HSE, Department of Health and Government that Phase B of the project is being delivered within budget and timescale. 

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