National children's hospital: Completion delayed until at least September
Substantial completion of the new
national children's hospital
has been delayed again until at least September, with patients now not expected to be treated at the facility until June 2026 at the earliest.
Building on the site at
St James's Hospital in Dublin
began in 2016 after years of disagreement over the location of the hospital.
The following eight years were marked by ballooning cost – from €987 million to €2.2 billion, with repeated delays exacerbated by an increasingly fractious relationship between the builders,
BAM
, and the board overseeing the project – the
National Paediatric Hospital Development Board
(NPHDB)
In September last, the contractor pledged the new substantial completion date for the hospital would be June 2025 – the 14th such date issued by the builder.
READ MORE
It has now emerged that this will not be met, with the new date forecast for September at the earliest. However, sources have indicated the NPHDB is not confident of completion by the new target timeline.
This delay will have an impact as to when the hospital will open to patients. Following substantial completion, the hospital will be handed over to Children's Health Ireland (CHI) for operational commissioning, which takes nine months.
During this phase, more than 36,000 pieces of clinical equipment will be installed, electronic health records will be integrated, and more than 4,000 staff from the three existing hospitals will be trained.
However, The Irish Times understands a September date will have an impact on the commissioning period, as this is the beginning of winter activity, when respiratory illnesses surge.
Clinical advice has suggested migration to the new hospital cannot be undertaken in winter due to 'clinical risks'.
Consequently, sources familiar with the project have indicated it will be June at the earliest before patients are treated in the hospital.
In light of the consistent delays to the project, NPHDB agreed with BAM that CHI could have access to the site from April to mitigate risks of delays to operational commissioning and to complete technical commissioning.
This early access has not been granted, however, as areas selected for early access have not yet being completed to a contractual standard.
It is understood that this early access will be provided in the coming weeks, but it is expected to be conducted on a phased basis.
Asked about delays, a spokeswoman for NPHDB said work towards substantial completion is 'continuing and approaching the final stages'.
'A key focus currently relates to the completion of all rooms and spaces within the hospital to the standard required by the contract, ie, snag free,' the spokeswoman said.
'This process is advancing. In addition, the technical commissioning is being undertaken and will continue until substantial completion.'
In a statement last week about early access, a Department of Health spokeswoman said all parties were working to 'minimise further delays' and the Government wanted to see the hospital open 'as soon as possible'.
Asked about the delay, a BAM Ireland spokesman said: 'The NCH project is at a very advanced stage and is well through the technical commissioning process. BAM is working closely with the NPHDB and CHI to ensure early access for CHI.'
The latest delay comes after significant tensions between BAM and the NPHDB, with the body previously alleging the contractor was holding the hospital 'hostage' to secure more funding from the State.
The contractor denied these allegations and blamed late-stage design changes by the NPHDB for the delays.
Next Thursday, the NPHDB, CHI, Seamus McCarthy, Comptroller and Auditor General, and staff from the department and Health Service Executive will appear before the Public Accounts Committee to update politicians on the project.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Rapist who threatened three Sunday World journalists jailed for 11 years
A convicted rapist who threatened and harassed three female Sunday World journalists has been jailed for 11 years. Mark McAnaw (53) refused to enter a bond before a sitting of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court which would have suspended the final 12 months of the 11-year sentence imposed for the harassment of Nicola Tallant, Amanda Brunker and Deirdre Reynolds. After Judge Pauline Codd had outlined the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence on Thursday, McAnaw's counsel Rebecca Smith said her client did not wish to enter the bond as he found the conditions 'onerous'. As a result, the judge imposed the full 11-year sentence. Judge Codd also ordered that McAnaw should have no contact either directly or indirectly with the women, should not approach them, go within 10 miles of their homes and workplaces or communicate with them for life. READ MORE McAnaw, previously of Letterkenny, Co Donegal, pleaded guilty to the harassment of the three women on various dates in August 2023. The court heard McAnaw repeatedly sent them emails and messages of a violent and sexually threatening nature, which escalated to him threatening to put a 'bullet' in one of them. He also referred to himself as an 'IRA Top Boy'. He also turned up at the offices of the Sunday World on Talbot Street in Dublin and, when refused entry, he went to a cafe across the road. When gardaí approached him there, McAnaw was in the process of writing an email to Ms Tallant. McAnaw is detained in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH). McAnaw does not accept his diagnosis of schizophrenia and has declined to take medication, the court was told. His previous convictions include the rape of a foreign student in Donegal in October 2010, for which he was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2012. McAnaw also has a 1989 conviction for kidnapping and convictions for assaults causing actual bodily harm from a court in Northern Ireland in 2011. He also has a conviction for aggravated assault after attacking a woman in her home in April 2018, for which he received a sentence of eight years and four months in June 2023. This sentence was backdated to 2018 when he went into custody, with the final 16 months suspended for 16 years on strict conditions. McAnaw was released from custody on this sentence in July 2023 – one month before the harassment of the three journalists took place. Ms Smith said her client instructs that he found it difficult to abide by the conditions attached to the suspended portion of the sentence imposed in 2023. A handwritten letter from McAnaw was also handed to the court, which Judge Codd described as 'concerning'. Judge Codd outlined a global sentence of 11 years, with the final 12 months to be suspended on strict conditions for five years. These included that McAnaw remain under probation supervision for five years, comply with his medical regime, refrain from the use of illicit substances and make available any internet-enabled devices when requested by gardaí. The judge backdated the sentence to August 2023, when McAnaw went into custody. Ms Brunker and Ms Reynolds were present in court when the sentence was imposed. Judge Codd commended the three women for their resilience and courage throughout the process and wished them well for the future.
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Who is Emeis and where are their Irish care homes located?
Emeis is a French nursing home group formerly known as Orpea. It entered the Irish market in 2020 through the takeover of the TLC Nursing Home portfolio and followed up with further deals. A review of all nursing homes operated by Emeis Ireland has now been requested by the Department of Health . Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Older People Kieran O'Donnell has asked the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) to start the review of all nursing homes operated by the group in the wake of Wednesday's RTÉ Investigates programme. Emeis Ireland runs 27 residential homes across the State, two of which were the subject of the broadcast, which detailed alleged elder abuse and neglect , scenes described by HIQA as 'wholly unacceptable and shocking'. READ MORE Who is Emeis? The nursing home group entered the Irish market in 2020 through the takeover of the TLC Nursing Home portfolio and followed up with further deals. It reported a €70.2 million net loss in 2023, according to its latest annual financial statement, filed with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) in December 2024. That brought its accumulated losses over three years to more than €223 million. Emeis Ireland, the largest private operator in the sector, attributed most of the losses to the writing down of goodwill associated with peak-of-market acquisitions. Still, the company remained profitable at earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) level throughout the period. This was helped by the fact that, unlike several operators that entered the market in recent times, it owns most of its properties. Its French parent required a bailout in 2023, led by a state-owned investment firm, in the wake of a scandal over residents' mistreatment in its home market. 'The directors' primary concern is with the health and safety of the group's residents and our employees,' Emeis said in the annual financial statement 'The directors closely monitor and assess the ongoing risks to the health and safety of all residents and employees and develop responses accordingly.'
Irish Times
3 hours ago
- Irish Times
‘Why are there all these mistakes?' Woman laments loss of daughter and unborn grandson as hospital apologises
Tipperary University Hospital has apologised to the family of a woman for shortcomings in care which led to her death and that of her unborn baby. Caroline Kavanagh was 22 weeks pregnant with her second child when she first presented at the Clonmel hospital's emergency department with chest pain. Dr John O'Mahony SC, for Ms Kavanagh's family, told the High Court the 37-year-old was misdiagnosed and her heart attack symptoms were not identified or addressed before she was discharged home. In what counsel described as a 'heartbreaking and extremely sad case', Ms Kavanagh was found unresponsive five days later in bed at her home in Kilmallock, Co Limerick and was later pronounced dead. READ MORE 'Her mother came to her home and found her daughter motionless in bed. Caroline had died and the baby she was carrying died with his mother,' counsel said. Dr O'Mahony, instructed by Ciaran O'Keeffe solicitor, said there was unfortunately a misdiagnosis at the hospital. He said there was a mistaken belief that an elevated level of the protein Troponin in the blood was due to pregnancy when it can also point to cardiovascular issues. Margaret Kavanagh holds a Mass card for her daughter Caroline and unborn grandson TJ outside the High Court in Dublin. Photograph: Collins Courts The letter of apology was read in court as Ms Kavnagh's mother Margaret Kavanagh, of Cashel, Co Tipperary, settled a High Court action against the HSE over her daughter's death on February 11th, 2015. In the letter, interim hospital manager Ailish Delaney expressed 'our profound sympathy and condolences to you on the loss of your daughter Caroline and her unborn child'. It added: 'The management and staff of the hospital apologise sincerely for the shortcomings in the care which was provided to Caroline and which led to her tragic death. The hospital wishes to acknowledge the heartache and distress suffered by her family because of her premature passing and to express our sincere sympathy and regret.' A breach of duty was admitted by the HSE in the case. Noting the settlement, and the division of the statutory €35,000 mental distress payment, Mr Justice Paul Coffey extended his deepest sympathy to the family. At the time of her death, Ms Kavanagh's daughter Megan was just nine-months-old. Speaking outside the court, Margaret Kavanagh said it had taken the family 10 years to get justice for Caroline, but the apology would not bring back her daughter or her unborn baby. 'While we acknowledge the apology from the HSE, as a family we believe that if the past mistakes that were made had had been corrected we would not be here today,' she said. She said Caroline was very much looking forward to the birth of her second child, to be named Thomas James (TJ) and was 'a great mother, daughter, sister and just a great person'. 'Why are there all these mistakes? We are in the 21st century and we seem to be going backwards,' Mrs Kavanagh added, clutching a picture of her daughter worn in a pendant around her neck. She said she dhe hoped no family would in future have to go through 'the pain and loss we have experienced in the last 10 years'. In the proceedings it was claimed a correct diagnosis of acute heart attack was not made and Caroline Kavanagh was not offered appropriate cardiac care to significantly improve her chances of survival when she attended the hospital on February 6th, 2015. She died of complications of heart attack on February 11th, 2015. It was claimed substandard care was provided and she did not have an echocardiogram. She was started on cardioprotective medication on admission to hospital but these were stopped on discharge.
