The Belfast maternity hospital project faces up to £10m in new costs after chemical treatments for pseudomonas damaged internal pipework, pushing its overall budget beyond £100m. Workers must dismantle large sections of ceilings to replace over 2,200 damaged valves across the facility. Meanwhile, mounting repair and patient relocation bills at the trust's Acute Mental Health site have separately accumulated to £9.4m. It remains undetermined whether taxpayers or external contractors will ultimately bear the financial responsibility for the remediation expenses.
Key points
Total costs for the Belfast maternity hospital are now projected to exceed £100m followin…: Total costs for the Belfast maternity hospital are now projected to exceed £100m following this latest infrastructure setback.
Trust officials are consulting independent experts to determine whether taxpayers or cont…: Trust officials are consulting independent experts to determine whether taxpayers or contractors must cover the remedial work.
The Belfast Trust tentatively aims to occupy parts of the delayed maternity hospital in 2…: The Belfast Trust tentatively aims to occupy parts of the delayed maternity hospital in 2027 if repairs succeed.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
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Problems at two Belfast Health and Social Care Trust buildings could amount to almost £20m in additional costs, the BBC has learned.
Newly-discovered issues with the Belfast maternity hospital could add almost £10m to the project's spiralling costs, while the amount spent on repairs and rehousing patients at the Acute Mental Health facility has now reached £9.4m.
The maternity building on the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site is already tens of millions of pounds over budget and more than a decade behind schedule. The new costs mean the project will exceed £100m.
The Department of Health, which provides funding to the trust, has been approached for comment by BBC News NI.
It is understood the latest problem at the maternity hospital has been caused by chemical flushing aimed at dealing with the original issue of bacteria in the water system.
The flushing process has caused damage to the pipework, with more than 2,200 defective valves needing replaced.
A report seen by the BBC estimates a repair bill of £7.8m, with an option of 24-hour contractor working bringing that…
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