Consultancy fees at new Belfast children's hospital hit £25million before construction
Consultancy fees at Belfast’s new children’s hospital have reached £25million before construction has begun on the project, MLAs have been told.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt described the total as “surprisingly high” and said he had asked for the costs to be analysed to see if they were justified. The new children’s hospital on the Royal Victoria site was originally planned to open in July 2020 at a cost of £223 million.
However, an Audit Office report last year said enabling works at the site were only completed in January 2023 and it is now expected to be completed by February 2029, with estimated costs of £590 million. The Assembly has previously been told that construction work is expected to begin in 2025.
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During ministerial question time at the Assembly, DUP MLA Diane Dodds said she had received an answer to a written question which said consultancy fees for the project are “in the region of £25 million so far”.
She said: “Could the minister explain what this amount of money was spent on and how we might prevent excessive amounts of money on this element of the build?"
Mr Nesbitt responded: “I am not going to endorse the thought of these fees being excessive, because I think to reach that conclusion we need to break them down and analyse them line by line.
“That is something I have asked be done because, like her, I find the amount is surprising. Surprisingly high. But these are major works which have gone on over a long period of time.”
Mr Nesbitt said he had come to the conclusion that “we are not top of the class or best in class when it comes to major infrastructure works”.
He added: “This is part of a bigger problem that needs to be analysed. These figures, on the face of it, are surprisingly high. It is incumbent on me to see if it can be fully justified, or if there are areas where there are learnings, where we can say we shouldn’t have run up such a big bill.”
Mrs Dodds also asked the minister what assurances he had sought to ensure lessons from the maternity hospital project have been learnt for the children’s hospital. The new maternity hospital is supposed to accompany the children’s hospital on the Royal site.
However, after the Belfast health trust took possession of the new maternity building last year, testing of its water systems showed high levels of the bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PsA), leading the trust to say the project was facing a significant new delay.
Mr Nesbitt said he had instructed officials to “identify the key lessons” from the maternity hospital project and “ensure these are applied ahead of signing any contract for the new children’s hospital at the Royal Victoria”.
He added: “The incorporation of learning from the maternity hospital and other learning from recent major schemes in the NHS and indeed in Dublin into the design and commissioning arrangements for the children’s project will be essential.”