New Belfast maternity hospital could face a further 28-month delay

The hospital is already 10 years behind schedule

The opening of Belfast's new maternity hospital could be delayed by another 28 months.

Mike Nesbitt told the assembly he could not "soften the news" and has asked for an external expert to review if the decision taken is the best one and if parts of the hospital could be opened in the meantime.

The minister also said that he is "far from finished" on the matter and he also needs to better understand why some experts have disagreed with the option taken by the health trust.

During last Thursday's health committee, it emerged that the health trust faced three options to try and fix the water system.

These included:

• Ongoing testing of individual water taps across the building

• Installing a "discreet checking system" for high-risk areas including the neonatal unit

• Pulling out the entire water system, which was described by management as "excessive"

The new maternity hospital, which is based in the grounds of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, is already 10 years behind schedule and has cost £97m so far.

At present management has chosen the second option which they said was the "safest" way to proceed as vulnerable babies would be protected.

The trust took possession of the five-storey building in March 2024 and began a "clinical commissioning phase" - a process of ensuring a safe transition of service to the new site.

Just a few months later in July, the trust said that during testing of water outlets, high levels of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were discovered in the water system.

Pseudomonas infection killed three babies at Belfast's Royal Jubilee Hospital in 2012.

The infection does not usually affect healthy people but infants and people with weakened immune systems are vulnerable.

A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust said the significant delays were "deeply" frustrating for everyone involved in the project, but it was vital the water safety issues were addressed before vulnerable patients were cared for.

They added that their proposed solution to the problem was arrived at after a review of all "available information regarding the water systems within the new Maternity Hospital".

"The work included in the preferred option will take, in total, 24 months and then four months to move staff, patients, and services into the new hospital."

'Simply incredible'

Marie-Louise Connolly, BBC News NI Health Correspondent

This latest development on when Belfast's new maternity hospital will open is simply incredible.

While the safety of babies and mothers is paramount, it seems that taking a decision about what needs to happen next has again been allowed to drift.

Yet another expert is being called into review and advise on how the trust's management team plans to resolve the crisis.

And all the while time is ticking with pregnant women, new babies and staff expected to work in less than perfect conditions.

'Utterly unacceptable'

Alliance Party Health spokesperson Danny Donnelly MLA has condemned the delay, calling it "utterly unacceptable".

"It creates real and serious concerns about project management and accountability within the Health Department," he added.

SDLP Opposition Health Spokesperson Colin McGrath called the announcement a "bitter blow".

"These delays are failures that impact mothers, babies, and families," the South Down MLA said.

Timeline

• 1999: It is proposed maternity services should be located in a new hospital on the Royal Hospital site

• 2005: Plans emerge for a new combined Women’s and Children’s Hospital but the idea is shelved because of capital funding constraints

• 2010: Then health minister Michael McGimpsey initiates a review that proposes to put the maternity unit on the top three floors of the Critical Care building on the Royal Victoria Hospital site

• 2015: The £57m maternity hospital’s expected completion date as first put forward by McGimpsey in 2010

• 2017: Work on the new maternity building, the first phase of the overall project, begins with an estimated completion date of 2020

• 2019: An Audit Office report details the hospital is six years overdue and is £17m over budget. Estimated costs rise to £74m

• 2020: The Covid-19 pandemic impacts construction. Phase one of the project had been due to be complete in August 2020

• 2021: Phase two - the demolition of the existing neonatal wing - expected to be completed in March while the third phase, the construction of a bridge link to the Critical Care Centre, had a September completion date

• 2022: The department informs the Audit Office that the budget has increased to £97.1m

• 2023: The Audit Office records overall spend had reached £89.5m

• 2024: The Belfast Trust says further significant delays are likely due to the to the high presence of the pseudomonas bacteria in the water system

• 2024: The health minister Mike Nesbitt confirms an issue with medical gas pipework at Belfast's long-delayed new maternity hospital has emerged

• 2025: The opening could be delayed by yet another 28 months, Nesbitt tells MLAs