The new Children’s Hospital (NCH) project comprises the main hospital on a shared campus at St James’s, the Outpatient and Urgent Care Centre at Connolly Hospital, Blanchardstown, and the Outpatient and Emergency Care Centre at Tallaght University Hospital.
In September 2021, the main contractor on the NCH project, BAM Ireland, substantially completed and handed over the paediatric outpatient and emergency care centre at Tallaght, in line with the contractor's schedule, and the facility opened on 15 November 2021, following a period of operational commissioning. The new facility will accommodate up to 17,000 outpatient and 25,000 emergency care attendances per year. Together with the Outpatient and Urgent Care Centre at Connolly Hospital, which opened in July 2019, these new facilities will improve access to urgent, emergency and outpatient care for a significant number of children. In 2021, there were over 13,300 outpatient attendances at Connolly and almost 11,400 patients presented for urgent care.
Work on the St James’s site is ongoing and progressing well with major milestones reached in 2021, including the completion of the concrete frame with over 150,000 cubic metres of concrete poured, the topping out of the building (where the highest point on the building was completed- a significant milestone in any construction project), the infill concrete slabs over the steelwork frame, the closing in of the concourse and approximately 17,000 square metres of glazing and 5,800 square metres of external façade installed.
To date, 86,000 square metres of internal partitions have been installed, with the equivalent of over 26 kilometres installed in 2021, and the fit out of most internal areas is now underway, including the south fingers comprising Outpatients, Cardiology Wards, and Therapies spaces, and the ‘Hot Block’ comprising Emergency Department, Critical Care and Theatres. Work in 2022 will be focused on the progression of the internal fit-out of the over 6,000 internal spaces.
The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) has advised that the main contractor’s current programme schedule outlines completion can be achieved by December 2023 which would mean the NCH at St James’s could open in the second half of 2024, after the necessary commissioning period. The NPHDB is working to ensure that contractor will meet its own schedule.
In 2018, Government approved a capital budget of €1.433bn for the NCH project. This included the capital costs for the main hospital at St James's Hospital campus, the two satellite centres, equipment for the three sites, and the construction of the carpark and retail spaces. The capital budget has not yet been depleted and, to date, €924.4m of the €1.433bn budget has been drawn down for works on the project across the three sites.
There are a number of items not included in this investment figure as there was no price certainly for them and nor can there be, for some, for the duration of the project. These include construction inflation, the impact of Covid-19, statutory changes, any change in scope resulting in healthcare policy changes, and the Employment Order.
Additional costs in relation to the integration and transfer of the services of the three children’s hospitals to the new sites brings the total programme cost to €1.73 billion. This includes investment in ICT, including a new Electronic Health Record system, the Children's Hospital Integration Programme (the merging of three paediatric hospitals) including commissioning, and pre-2013 project expenditure relating to the former Mater project.
Brexit and the global pandemic have severely impacted supply chains and NCH project is not immune to these external challenges. Every effort is being taken to mitigate the risks but these externalities beyond the control of the contractor and the NPHDB make speculation and more definitive forecasting unwise.
The NPHDB has statutory responsibility for planning, designing, building, and equipping the new children's hospital. This includes assessment and defence of claims/ disputes submitted by the contractor under the construction contract. I have therefore referred this element of your question to the NPHDB for direct reply.
