CONSTRUCTION work has started on the new children’s hospital on the Royal Hospitals site on the Falls Road.
Six-year-old Leyton Anderson from Newtownards, who is a patient at the current hospital, joined Health Minister Mike Nesbitt to cut the first sod on the project, alongside some of the Children’s Hospital team and contractors GBHP.
The new state-of-the-art hospital will be built on the former Bostock House site. It will have ten floors, 155 beds, ten theatres, and an emergency department capable of catering for up to 45,000 children per year. Eighty per cent of the beds will be in single rooms with private ensuite facilities, and each ward will benefit from social and play spaces, with parent facilities and separate staff areas. Construction for the new build is due to last five years.
The Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children will continue to provide care for children while the new hospital is being built. It is the only hospital in the North dedicated specifically to the care of children. It provides general hospital care for children living in Belfast and provides most of the paediatric regional specialities (including palliative care) for children throughout the North of Ireland.
The children's hospital first moved to the Falls Road building in 1932. The original building was altered and extended on several occasions in the intervening years, including an extension which was completed in 1998. The current hospital provides 113 beds and three theatres.
Six-year-old Leyton Anderson and his mum Samantha Herron join Health Minister Mike Nesbitt
Speaking as construction commenced, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “I am proud to join Children's Hospital staff to mark the start of works on our new world-class hospital. This is really welcome news for future healthcare provision for Northern Ireland and for the healthcare professionals, children and families that will use the modern facility on completion. Today is a reason to celebrate and I am delighted to share the honour of cutting the first sod with Leyton because our key focus throughout the development of this project has been on delivering improved services and facilities for children and young people."
“Last week I visited Dublin’s new children’s hospital, which is finally close to completion, and saw first-hand the world-class facilities it will provide. I want children and families from across NI having access to equally world-class facilities. That is why this development starting today is so important.”
Children’s Hospital’s Director Paula Cahalan said “This is an exciting day for all of us in Children’s Hospital and for families across Northern Ireland. We have really outgrown the facilities on the current site, so a new modern, technologically capable building will allow our dedicated teams to deliver excellent and innovative clinical care to future generations.”
