A further “totally shocking” problem with Belfast’s troubled new maternity hospital building has been uncovered, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said.
The Department of Health confirmed that his comments related to a “medical gas pipework issue” discovered at the hospital, which has faced a number of delays.
A spokesperson said the problem is believed to be limited to an isolated area of the building but added the minister was “deeply dissatisfied” by the latest revelation.
It followed the revelation from a DUP MLA that a potentially dangerous bacteria had been found in 459 water outlets in the maternity hospital.
It is another... totally shocking revelation
The figure was revealed by Diane Dodds as she launched a debate calling for an independent inquiry into delays to the flagship maternity and children’s hospital project.
It was revealed earlier this year that the opening of the hospital was facing a new delay after high levels of the bacteria pseudomonas were found in water systems.
The hospital had been expected to open next year when the Belfast Trust took possession of the new building in March.
However, during testing of its water systems, high levels of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PsA) were discovered, leading the trust to say the project was facing a significant new delay.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is found widely in soil and stagnant water.
It does not usually cause illness in healthy people but can pose a serious threat to people with weak immune systems.
In answer to a written question I received just today indicates that this is in fact 459 different water outlets and that is 36% of the total water outlets in the building
Responding to the motion at the Stormont Assembly calling for an independent inquiry, Mr Nesbitt said: “When I went to bed last night I was not in favour of that, not least because the cost and time associated with a further independent inquiry could be in the order of £3 million per annum with a significant time impact and no guarantee of improvement and it could potentially stymie progress.
“However, as of eight o’clock this morning I have become aware of another issue.
“I know Mrs Dodds is very well informed on these issues so I challenge her, I give her 24 hours to discover what the latest problem is with the maternity hospital.
“It is another shocking, another totally shocking revelation.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said: “The minister was today informed of a separate medical gas pipework issue within the new maternity hospital building.
“The scale of this further problem is believed to be limited to an isolated section of the maternity hospital.
“The minister was deeply dissatisfied with the emergence of this further issue, and by the fact he only learned of it today.”
Mrs Dodds had earlier told the debate that increases in costs for the new maternity and children’s hospitals were “astronomical” and were putting “intolerable pressure” on the health budget.
Referring to the maternity hospital, she said: “Shortly after the (Belfast) trust took charge of the building, pseudomonas was confirmed in a significant number of water outlets, rendering the hospital unsafe and requiring significant reparative work.
“Indeed an answer to a written question I received just today indicates that this is in fact 459 different water outlets and that is 36% of the total water outlets in the building.”
Mrs Dodds said she had received further information from Mr Nesbitt that the trust’s water safety team was not involved in the handover of the building from the contractor in March.
She said: “A full independent inquiry should take place, outwith the Belfast Trust and those who participated or acted in a professional advisory capacity in the decision making.”
The MLA said she also wanted to know the extent of the risk assessment carried out by the trust before the handover of the building.
She said: “Northern Ireland cannot afford losses on this scale.
I want to know how all this happened, what went wrong, what was done, what was not done
“I do think that those who made these decisions around the handover of the contract and the decision to proceed need to be held accountable.
“It is long past time that things did change.”
Addressing the minister, she added: “You have the opportunity to do that through a full robust inquiry into what happened so we do not repeat continuously the mistakes of the past.”
Mr Nesbitt responded: “I am deeply, deeply, deeply uncomfortable with what has happened. The public purse deserves much better.
“Speaking frankly, I’ve called a number of very challenging discussions about what has happened and about the best way forward.
“In fact, there was a very tense meeting in the department earlier this morning.
“I want to know how all this happened, what went wrong, what was done, what was not done.
“The Belfast Trust needs to determine what happens next to put all this right.”
The motion brought by Mrs Dodds was carried by 61 votes to nine.
The new maternity hospital is several years overdue and well over budget.
A Northern Ireland Audit Office report earlier this year said the hospital was originally expected to be completed by the end of 2015.
Three babies died during a previous outbreak of the bacteria at Belfast’s Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital in 2012.
