“In last week’s Assembly debate
I called for an urgent, rigorous and in-depth examination of the
actions of the Belfast Trust in relation to the new Regional Maternity
Hospital. The interjection of the Health Minister during that debate to
inform MLAs that he had been told of a further issue just that morning
only underscored the need for a full independent inquiry.
I have written to the Minister, enclosing the Hansard copy of my comments from the debate and have asked him to respond as many of the points were not addressed.
Lessons from the debacle around
the maternity hospital need to be identified and learned before we
embark on the new children’s hospital, which is scheduled to commence
construction next year. There have been huge sums of public money spent
already on these projects, and whilst delays will inevitably impact the
cost of the children’s hospital we cannot allow it to become mired in
the same problems as the maternity hospital.
With the Belfast Trust back before the Health Committee it will be a
very useful opportunity to revisit some issues from their last evidence.
It is vital that we have secure transparency and accountability in
relation to significant public sector projects. That is the very least
the public deserves.”