The Upper Bann MLA, who is DUP Health Spokesperson, said:
“This is an important project for mothers and babies across Northern Ireland, yet it is now a decade behind schedule. Originally due to open in 2015, it is utterly unacceptable that we are still without a functioning facility, and even more so that the costs have now more than doubled.
Fifteen months ago we were told the contractor had handed the building over to the Belfast Trust. Now we hear it could be another 28 months before it is operational in any way. That is beyond belief.
The Minister’s latest statement outlining three options to address the issues still does not make clear whether any of them fully resolve the problems. That is totally unsatisfactory. The Belfast Trust has rightly been placed under special measures, but we heard at last week’s Health Committee that this does not include financial management of capital projects. That must change. The Minister needs to think again.
Belfast hospitals deliver services that are vital not just to the city but to patients across the province. People from every part of Northern Ireland have had their confidence in this system shaken. Above all, safety must come first. Little more than a decade ago, babies tragically lost their lives due to Pseudomonas infection in the water systems of the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital. That was devastating and it would be indefensible for it to happen again.
Responsibility for these failures, and those of the Energy Unit costing £10m that is undeliverable and the Acute Mental Health Unit with millions of pounds needed to fix, lies squarely with the Belfast Trust. There is little public belief that those in charge, despite the huge salaries they command, are capable of delivering the outcomes the people of Northern Ireland need and deserve. The Minister must step in with urgency and address well-grounded public concern.”