A joint venture (JV) between Graham and Bam Ireland has been appointed to build a £671m children’s hospital in Belfast.
The project at Royal Victoria Hospital will be undertaken by the Northern-Ireland based Graham and Bam Healthcare Partnership (GBHP).
The 10-storey hospital will have 155 beds – 80 per cent with ensuite bathrooms – as well as 11 operating theatres.
It will also include an emergency department, an imaging suite, and an outpatients department designed to treat up to 45,000 children annually.
The 52,000 square metre building will also have facilities for parents, as well as social spaces and staff areas. Plans for the project were approved by Northern Ireland’s government yesterday (19 February).
Construction of the hospital will start shortly and is expected to take five years to build. It is being funded from the Northern Irish government’s Department of Health capital budget.
The Northern Irish government had previously estimated the hospital would cost £250m, but now says it will have a total price tag of £671m, including a construction cost of £389m.
The announcement comes as a new maternity hospital at the Royal Victoria, completed by GBHP in April 2024, is yet to open.
A report in February 2024 from the Northern Ireland Audit Office found that costs on that project had spiralled from £57m to £97m.
The opening of the maternity hospital has been delayed by 10 years amid problems with potentially dangerous bacteria found in its water pipes, Mike Nesbitt, Northern Ireland’s health minister, said last December.
Regarding the latest contract award to the JV, he said: “While we celebrate the go-ahead for this prestigious new facility, it’s important to acknowledge that, in common with major children’s hospital developments in Scotland and [the] Republic of Ireland, this project has had a difficult history with significant delays and cost increases.
He added: “I tasked departmental officials to identify the key lessons from the new maternity hospital project and ensure that they were applied ahead of the contract signing for the new children’s hospital.
“It is essential that a range of improvements are secured to the management of this project.”
Jonathan Hall, managing director at Graham, said: “This project is a major step forward for healthcare in Northern Ireland, and we are honoured to be delivering such a critical facility for future generations.
“The new hospital will provide state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, ensuring the best possible care for children and their families.”
GBHP previously delivered a £95m acutes services block and £86m ward at Ulster Hospital, as well as a £33m mental health inpatient facility at Belfast City Hospital.
Northern Irish projects are not included in the scope of the UK government’s New Hospital Programme (NHP).
Earlier this month NHS England announced it was looking for 10 contractors to join a £37bn framework for the delivery of the NHP, which will see 34 major hospitals delivered by 2039.
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Will Ing