A new Northern Ireland children’s hospital within Belfast’s Royal Victoria Hospital site has been given the formal go-ahead, with work scheduled to begin in a matter of days.

The hospital, which is to take five years to build, is expected to be open in 2030 at a cost of £671m.

The project has seen several delays since it was first announced in October 2013.

Costs have risen from an initial £250m to more than two and a half times that with a 10-year delay to its build.

The 10-floor state-of-the-art facility, which is an Executive flagship project, will be able to cater for up to 45,000 children per year with 155 beds, 10 theatres, and an emergency department.

Eighty percent 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.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill said, “providing high quality care for sick and seriously ill children is a priority for this Executive”.

“This is very welcome and long-awaited news for families across the north,” she said.

“Once completed the new hospital will provide our children and young people with access to the very best medical treatment as well as improving their overall experience of hospital care.”

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said the new hospital “will transform services for children in a modern and fit for purpose facility”.

“The investment by the executive in this new hospital is a sign of our commitment to providing the highest quality care for our children.

“The state-of-the-art facility, equipped with the latest technology and play spaces, and staffed by dedicated professionals, will ensure that children receive the very best treatment in a nurturing and healing environment.”

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

The works costs will be spread over the five-year construction period and will be funded from the Department of Health capital budget, rather than the separate budget for day-to-day health and social care services.

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said it was “excellent news” for children and parents across Northern Ireland, and for health and social care staff.

“Patients and staff deserve the very best facilities that we can provide, and the new children’s hospital will be truly world class, a healthcare facility that we can all be proud of,” 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 RoI, this project has had a difficult history with significant delays and cost increases.

“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.”

Children’s hospitals in Dublin and Edinburgh have also seen delays and spiralling costs.

The initial cost forecast for the new National Children’s Hospital in Dublin a decade ago was around €650m.

It is now projected to cost €2.24bn and is hoped to open in 2026.

The delayed 2019 opening of Edinburgh’s Sick Kids hospital is being examined by the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry.

The opening of the children’s hospital in Edinburgh was postponed when last-minute inspections found safety concerns over its ventilation systems.

Interim chief executive of Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Maureen Edwards said she is “delighted” that work will soon begin on the new children’s hospital.

“This is a much-needed hospital that will ensure future generations of children in Northern Ireland will continue to receive exemplary, specialist, and dedicated care, but in a modern 21st century building,” she said.

Belfast Trust has had several issues delivering large scale building projects with a series of building defects which have spanned a decade.

A new maternity hospital, at the Royal Victoria site in Belfast, is already almost 10 years behind schedule after numerous delays.

There have also been repeated cases of pipework and building defect issues after damage emerged at the Acute Mental Health Inpatient Centre at Belfast City Hospital.

The Executive Office said Belfast Trust now has a new director of strategic development who is senior responsible owner for the children’s hospital development.

Much of his workload will be attributable to the project.

The Department of Health will have active oversight of the project and will liaise closely with the Trust and contractor throughout the construction period.