Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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421. To ask the Minister for Health if the new national children's hospital is nearing completion; the extent of the services likely to be provided therein; when the hospital is likely to become operational; if sufficient emphasis is on the need to complete in early date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30873/24]

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The timely completion of the New Children’s Hospital (NCH) is a Government priority. Everything possible is being done to ensure the project is completed as soon as possible on behalf of children, young people and their families.

The two satellite centres, which represent major milestones in the programme, are open and delivering the new model of care. Construction has advanced to over 90% complete against contract value, with the fit out of rooms and installation of medical equipment well underway.

The NCH will be the single national tertiary/quaternary centre for highly specialised paediatric care for children from all over Ireland. Together with its two paediatric outpatients and urgent care centres on the campuses of Tallaght Hospital and Connolly Hospital, it will also provide all secondary, or less specialised, acute paediatric care for children from the Greater Dublin Area.

This hospital will provide 39 clinical specialties in one location and will be the hub in the national network of paediatric services envisaged by the Model of Care, supporting regional and local hospitals to deliver acute paediatric care close to home for children where clinically appropriate, providing more ambulatory care, and integrating locally with community provision.

The NCH will be a state-of-the-art hospital. It will be Ireland’s first digital public hospital providing 473 beds in total – 380 in-patient beds, and 93 daybeds. The 380 inpatient beds include 20 mental health beds, and 60 critical care beds. The 60 critical care beds will be comprised of 20 paediatric critical care, 22 cardiac critical care, and 18 neonatal critical care. The hospital will have 22 theatres and specialist procedures rooms including specialised theatres for cardiac, neuro, and orthopaedic surgery. There will also be 110 outpatient examination rooms, and 15 radiology beds. It will also include education and research facilities.

Co-location on a campus with the adult St. James’ Hospital ensures that adult specialists will be able to support paediatric colleagues to jointly manage the treatment of children and young people with specific conditions and provide better quality clinical care. Another advantage of co-location is the development of a model for transition to adult services for children with chronic conditions.

The substantial completion of NCH is informed by the contractor’s programme of works and its ability to meet the targets set out in its own programme. Last September, the main contractor set out its formal programme outlining how it could complete the construction and fit out of the hospital by 29 October 2024.

The main contractor has in it's recent monthly project update indicated that the forecasted substantial completion date has now moved to 20 February 2025. The Employer’s Representative (ER- the independent third party responsible for administering the contract) has sought a revised, formal programme to underpin and support this update.

The National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) continues to work with BAM to ensure it increases its resources & productivity on site and to hold the contractor accountable for its delivery of its programme under the contract.

Once substantial completion is achieved, the hospital will be handed over to Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) for a period of operational commissioning of at least 6 months. The hospital could therefore still open in 2025.

The delivery of the new children’s hospital is much more than just bricks and mortar. It also involves the integration of the three existing hospitals, operational commissioning of the building, and conversation to a solely digital way of working. Ahead of the transition to the new facilities, a significant body of work is ongoing to integrate the three hospitals from a clinical, operational, and cultural perspective.

Onsite operational commissioning is a major aspect of the Children’s Hospital Programme. This is the phase following substantial completion of the new children’s hospital and before the opening of new hospital.

Activities during the onsite operational commissioning phase include the setting up of every department in detail. Parallel to this set-up will be the installation, and commissioning, of over 36,000 pieces of equipment and integration of medical equipment with Electronic Health Records and other ICT systems. This is separate from fit out and fixed equipment installation which will be completed by the NPHDB before substantial completion. Additionally, this phase will implement the detailed training for over 4,500 staff on the new and extensive digital and technologically advanced infrastructure, equipment, and systems.

While much focus has been on the challenges faced by the project, it is important to note that once open, the NCH will provide world class facilities to its patients. The NCH is unprecedented in scale, facilities, and technological advancement. It will be transformational in how we treat and deliver care to children and their families. The hospital has been designed and constructed to be as enduring and adaptable as possible. It is a building for the next 75-100 years, rather than the 40-50 years of other hospitals internationally.