Final bill for children's hospital to reach almost €2.25 billion

The Government has today approved an increased capital and current budget for the New Children’s Hospital (NCH) project, bringing the total approved budget to €2.24 billion (previously approved budget was €1.73 billion).

Included in this are the design, build and equipping costs (including the Satellite Centres at Tallaght and Connolly) of €1.88 billion, and a separate €360 million for the integration and transition of services to the NCH, including commissioning, ICT and the Electronic Health Record.

Meanwhile, the completion of the construction and fit-out of the hospital is expected by Q4 2024. Allowing for an operational commissioning period of at least six months for Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), the hospital could open in mid-2025, the Government has said.

The new hospital will be a state-of-the-art hospital. It will be Ireland’s first fully digital public hospital, providing 300 individual, inpatient, ensuite rooms - each with its own place for a parent/guardian to sleep. In addition, it will double the current number of critical care beds to 60, and have 93-day beds and 20 dedicated, ensuite mental health (CAMHS) beds. Theatre capacity will be expanded to 22 theatres and procedure rooms. The building will accommodate five MRIs and 110 outpatient rooms.

The revised budget for the NCH project and programme follows significant work by the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB), Children’s Health Ireland (CHI), the HSE and officials in the Department of Health, along with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform.

Speaking following the Government decision Minister Donnelly said:

“We all want to see this hospital open as soon as possible. Today’s approval by Cabinet to increase the capital and current budget sanctions for the New Children’s Hospital project will assist in achieving the opening of what will be a world-class hospital.

“We already have two satellite centres open and delivering the new model of care. The construction of the main hospital is also well advanced at over 90% completion. I acknowledge that a significant amount of money is being spent on this project, but it must not be forgotten that this is a hospital built to serve children and their families for the next 100 years. The new hospital building is unprecedented in scale and technological advancement.”

Despite challenges the project has continued to advance, and is now over 90% complete, with the fit-out of rooms and the installation of medical equipment underway, and the first roof-top helipad of its kind in Ireland, to be shared with St James’s Hospital, recently completed.

Cabinet approval also includes an increase to the non-recurrent funding of the Children’s Hospital Programme. This Programme includes the completed commissioning of the two new urgent care/emergency care facilities, the commissioning of the NCH, the integration and transition of three hospitals and workforces, and a new Electronic Health Record system.