Work to begin on delayed €810m children’s hospital in Belfast

Work will begin on building a new children’s hospital in Belfast within days, it has been announced.

The 10-floor facility will be located within Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital site.

The new hospital was originally planned to open in July 2020 at a cost of £223 million (€269 million).

However, the project has been beset by delays and costs have risen.

There will now be a five-year construction timetable with the hospital projected to be opened by Belfast Health and Social Care Trust at the beginning of the next decade.

The construction works are valued at £389 million, with the overall development now projected to cost £671 million.

The cost of the works will be spread over the five-year construction period and will be funded from the North’s Department of Health capital budget.

The new children’s hospital on the Royal site will accompany a new maternity hospital which had been expected to open this year, but is now facing a significant delay after high levels…