Health Minister Determined to Ensure Phase Two Moves Forward

In her speech to the Assembly on 5th December, Minister for Health and Social Services, Edwina Hart guaranteed the funding needed for the final phase of the Children's Hospital for Wales.

"Presiding Officer, the provision of a purpose-built Children’s Hospital in Cardiff has been an ambition shared by many of those involved in bringing about improvements in the health care of children and their parents. The first phase of development opened in February 2005 at a cost of nearly £10 million. Its completion drew on the efforts made by the Noah’s Ark Appeal which raised the sum of £4.5million towards the build cost. The development was only able to go ahead, however, because of the £4.9 million public funding which the then-Health Minister, Jane Hutt, committed to the project.

Phase One included two 25 bed medical wards, the transfer of paediatric oncology services, general medicine and orthopaedics from Llandough Hospital to the new unit at UHW. It has included the development of a new Children’s Assessment Centre, expanding outpatient clinics for general and specialist children’s services, providing children’s community services, a clinical investigation unit and an urgent access children’s assessment service.

Phase Two, which is the main focus of my statement this afternoon will involve:

  • the transfer of main theatre and ambulatory care to a dedicated children’s theatre suite,
  • the reprovision of surgical and medical assessment wards to more appropriately sized accommodation,
  • the transfer of paediatric outpatient activity to accommodation more appropriately sized,
  • the provision of dedicated diagnostic and assessment facilities, and
  • the provision of dedicated teaching and education facilities.     


  This is likely to include:

  • 30 surgical beds, 14 ambulatory/overnight beds and 8 renal/cardiac beds,
  • a paediatric intensive care unit with high dependency unit (7 beds and 4 beds respectively),
  • 4 paediatric theatres,
  • a radiology department,
  • a dedicated paediatric dental unit 


The total cost of Phase Two has been estimated at £40 million. All of this will be provided through the Assembly Government’s public capital programme – a commitment already made and which I reconfirm today.

The debate about Phase Two has revolved around the revenue funding required to meet the on-going costs which will be needed to make the most of this major capital investment.  Earlier this year, my immediate predecessor, Brian Gibbons announced that the Assembly Government would provide assistance with the capital charges which will follow from construction of the new facility. Again, I reconfirm that this afternoon.

A draft revised Strategic Outline Case for the Phase Two development was submitted by the Trust to my Department on 30 November. Despite an assurance received on 10 September last, there remains a revenue gap of £1.2 million when that Phase opens in 2010/11 which has yet to be agreed by commissioners.

Presiding Officer, I am not prepared to see this scheme held up any longer while Commissioners resolve differences between the Trust and each other..

I am therefore announcing today that I will underwrite that £1.2 million from my budget, in order to move the scheme forward.

I warn the organisations involved that I do not expect this sum of money to be drawn down.  It is for them to agree a long-term sustainable revenue arrangement.  My action is designed to prevent the scheme from being held up further now – not to let them off the hook in meeting their obligations.

I am especially anxious that Phase Two should proceed according to timetable, because this facility has to be factored fully into the work being undertaken by the Expert Advisory Group which has been established to advise me on the future of NHS Paediatric care in Wales over the next five years.  This work is being undertaken under the professional direction of Dr Huw Jenkins, Director of NHS Children’s Health and will be pivotal in taking forward the work of the Children and Young People’s Specialised Services Project which Dr Jenkins has led over the last four years. I am determined to ensure that specialist services for children are implemented and managed on the basis of equity of access for all children in Wales to effective, high quality and safe provision. This will require managed clinical networks and the delivery of National Service Framework standards. As Members will appreciate, development of the Children’s Hospital at Cardiff is an integral part of making all this happen on the ground. That is why I have been determined to ensure that Phase Two moves forward – not simply for the new facility itself, but because of the way in which its future plays into the wider picture of children’s services throughout Wales."