New National Children's Hospital may miss 20th deadline

A man pushing a child in a stroller walking past the unfinished National Children's Hospital in Dublin. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

Building contractor BAM has now been asked for “a robust timeline” to fix outstanding issues and a certain completion date, as another delay to the National Children’s Hospital looms.

This latest twist could mean a 20th deadline missed if a previously-announced target to complete by the end of August is not met.

Any further delay is likely to further push out the transfer of hundreds of children from the existing hospitals to the new site.

Children’s Health Ireland (CHI) previously raised questions around a winter move, saying the flu season and vaccination levels need to be taken into account.

A spokeswoman for the National Paediatric Hospital Development Board (NPHDB) said on Thursday that almost 80% of the rooms have now been delivered to the standard required.

However, she said: “BAM’s progress continues to lag behind its own programme timeline in several areas.”

These are having rooms completed to the contract standard and accepted; aspects of commissioning and the paperwork required for certification of substantial completion and compliance with building regulations.

An updated work programme submitted by BAM on July 13 has now been reviewed.

The employer’s representative, the independent third party responsible for administering the contract, has “requested a revised program from BAM to include a robust timeline for the remediation of certification issues and certainty around any revised BAM substantial completion date”.

A potential compliance issue emerged in recent weeks around certification of prefabricated bathroom pods. The NPHDB spokeswoman said BAM has already made a preliminary submission on this, which is under review by the representative.

She reiterated the board, design team, and others remain committed to delivering the hospital as soon as possible. “It is critically important that the hospital is delivered and fully compliant with all building regulations and contract requirements,” she said.

She said the NPHDB is in regular contact with BAM executive members and other stakeholders. “The board remains focused on ensuring that the remaining works are completed and certified in accordance with the requirements of the contract and all applicable regulatory standards.”

In June, the Department of Health secretary general Derek Tierney said he was uncertain if a target for completion by the end of August would be met.

Mr Tierney spoke to the Oireachtas health committee about the delays. He said up to then BAM had missed 19 deadlines.

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Yesterday, Thursday, a spokesman for BAM directed questions to the NPHDB.

Earlier in the summer, CHI issued an update on work it is doing in the areas handed over to its staff by that point.

It said this included “large-scale fit-out works and installation activities throughout the building, with thousands of equipment items already in place in advance of opening”. 

Staff training and trial runs on some situations connected to the move were underway.

• Niamh Griffin, Health Correspondent