Freeman 'furious' at last-minute delay to hospital - inquiry
- Published
Former health secretary Jeane Freeman told the inquiry she had a number of "difficult conversations" with NHS executives
Former health secretary Jeane Freeman has accused NHS Lothian of a "nothing to see here" approach to dealing with last-minute safety concerns at an unfinished children's hospital.
Ms Freeman told the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry she was "furious" to learn about ventilation problems with the Sick Kids in Edinburgh just days before it was due to open in 2019.
NHS Lothian had suggested a phased opening while the problem was fixed.
But Ms Freeman ruled this was unsafe.
The retired SNP cabinet secretary used her witness statement to the inquiry to criticise NHS Lothian's handling of a crisis where a mistake in a spreadsheet set in motion a series of events that severely delayed the opening of Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Children and Young People.
Ms Freeman said news of the problems was a "big bolt from the blue" which she knew was going to be unsettling and destabilising for patients.
The ex-health secretary said NHS Lothian suggested moving some of departments into the new building while the ventilation issues were addressed but Ms Freeman rejected a phased move as she had "lost trust and confidence in the assurances that had been given about the readiness" of the facility.
She said: "I do not believe there was any point at which I thought there was a safe and credible option other than not migrating patients over to the new hospital".
The issues surrounding the opening of the new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh are being examined by the public inquiry
Ms Freeman, a former health board chairwoman, added: "As far as how NHS Lothian handled matters, I think they attempted a version of, 'nothing to see here - we can fix this, and everything can just go ahead'.
"Whilst I might understand their motivation for doing that, it's all about reputation and perception. I think it was a fundamental flaw on their part because their first and foremost responsibility is patient safety."
She also told the inquiry she made her decision about delaying the move to the new Edinburgh Sick Kids taking into account the difficulty of addressing building issues at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital while it was occupied.
Former NHS Lothian chairman Brian Houston has previously accused Ms Freeman of lying when she said she was overruling NHS Lothian to halt the move to the new hospital.
The inquiry has previously heard that NHS Lothian accepted the handover of the Sick Kids months before the original opening date to stop the private consortium behind the deal going bust.
The IHSL group building the hospital was facing insolvency and if IHSL went bust then NHS Lothian faced paying out at least £150m to get the project finished.
'Cost to the public purse'
The project's Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) financing deal - put in place against the health board's wishes by the Scottish government - meant monthly payments of around £1.4m to the consortium commenced because the building had been officially handed over.
Ms Freeman told the inquiry she was not aware of this funding issue.
But in her statement she added: "It's a galling cost to the public purse to be paying for something that couldn't be used, as well as the additional cost that would be incurred to get it to the necessary standard."
Ms Freeman also used her statement to say she had "a number of difficult conversations" with NHS executives when she was cabinet secretary because of her view that "health boards are the delivery arm of the NHS, with less discretion to determine their overall direction and behaviours than some boards may believe".
The new Sick Kids hospital cost about £150m to build, but its full price tag over 25 years, including maintenance and facilities management fees, will be £432m under the NPD deal.
The inquiry, before Lord Brodie, continues.
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