THE first patients will not be treated in Ireland’s new €2 billion National Children’s Hospital until 2026, the Health Minister has been told.
The Children’s Hospital in Dublin has been delayed 14 times with cost overruns spiralling out of control.
The development board of the new hospital is locked in legal disputes with builder BAM over a series of financial claims.
Last year, former Health Minister Stephen Donnelly met with the parent company of BAM to express the Government’s frustrations at the repeated delays and cost overruns.
The former Fianna Fail minister said that BAM’s owners would stand over the latest timeline that would see the completed hospital handed over to the health service this summer.
However, a briefing document provided to the new Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill claims that the first patients won’t be treated in the hospital until 2026.
This is due to advice that staff and patient services should not be transferred to the new hospital during winter due to health risks.
The briefing said: “In line with international best practice, Children’s Health Ireland has advised that migration cannot be undertaken in winter due to clinical risks.”
The hospital is currently in the “snagging” phase, however this is expected to carry on for a number of months.
A commissioning of the hospital is then expected to take six months with more than 4,000 staff being moved across.
Last year, the Irish Sun revealed concerns from top medics in CHI about the willingness of staff to move to the new hospital.
The new Health Minister Jennifer Carroll McNeill has been urged to “grasp control” of the project and ensure children can be treated there safely as soon as possible.
Sinn Fein’s David Cullinane said: “Previous ministers have tried to pass the buck to the development board, and the board has a serious role, but there is also responsibility on the Minister to get the hospital finished.
“This will be a major priority of the new health committee. The committee and the Dail will need to be assured that substantial progress has been made and continues to be made to open the hospital next year.”
