The Belfast Trust first raised concerns about an issue affecting the medical gas pipes at the new Royal Maternity Hospital during the handover process for the building back in November 2023, the Health Minister has claimed.
This comes after the DUP's Diane Dodds last week revealed that potentially dangerous bacteria had been found in 459 water outlets in the maternity hospital.
In a written statement circulated to MLAs, Mike Nesbitt said that he has met with the Trust and has been assured that the issue will be remedied as soon as possible.
It is estimated that the issue, which has added to the delays in opening the hospital will cost approximately £50,000 to fix.
"I am advised that the medical gas pipe issue was raised by Belfast Trust in November 2023 as part of the contractual handover process for the building. It was detailed in the handover documentation as a “caveat” which is, in essence, a defect which was known at the point of handover," the Minister said.
"In recent days I have again met the Trust and it has assured me the issue with the medical gas pipework will be remedied as swiftly as possible. I have been advised the cost to resolve the issue will beapproximately £50,000.
"Although the defect had been identified for some time, the Belfast Trust and Departmental Officials had only recently received a report into the options forcorrecting the problem. I have been informed that the work going on in parallel to test the water systems regrettably, but unavoidably, contributed to the delay in the production of this report.
"The Trust has advised that they will work to ensure that the issue is fixed as quickly as possible and that it will not add any further to the delays which I know Members are rightly concerned about.
"While my frustrations remain, the primary focus must be on satisfactorily resolving the water supply issues and securing the opening of the new Maternity Hospital as expeditiously as possible."
The Assembly’s Health Committee will receive an urgent update from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust on issues with the medical gas pipework at the hospital tomorrow afternoon.
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