Debate contribution: Craigavon Area Hospital: Redevelopment

Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on 1 April 2025.

MLA: Mr Eóin Tennyson
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 1 April 2025
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Craigavon Area Hospital: Redevelopment
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4876600

Text

I welcome the opportunity to have this important debate, and I thank the proposer of the motion for bringing it to the Chamber. I add my voice to the calls for the redevelopment of Craigavon Area Hospital.
As other Members have said, it is almost 10 years since the master plan was originally published. Linda Dillon rightly pointed out in her remarks that the Health Minister is ultimately responsible and our lead on these issues, but it is important to contextualise. The 10-year delay did not happen in a vacuum. In fact, the parties of both Members who spoke immediately before me contributed to at least five years of the 10-year delay. It is important to acknowledge our hand in and responsibility for issues when we call on others to take action. We are all too aware of the pressures faced by staff who work in hospitals across Northern Ireland. Craigavon Area Hospital serves an estimated 241,000 people, spanning six constituencies. We are also aware of the sustained pressure facing emergency departments daily and the fact that, in the Southern Trust area, over 167,000 people are on a waiting list for a first consultant-led outpatient appointment. While some parts of the hospital have since been upgraded, including the paediatric ward and the Glenanne unit, other major parts are no longer fit for purpose. Anyone who engages with the trust or hospital staff will know that capacity constraints inhibit their ability to deliver for their patients in the way that they would wish to. This is not just a parochial matter and a case of Members from the constituency getting up to call for investment in our area; it is an evidence-based call. In September 2023, as Diane Dodds referenced, the independent panel, which had undertaken a serious adverse incident review, highlighted serious concerns. It identified:
"Insufficient and inadequate isolation facilities, poor ventilation on the wards, overcrowding and inadequate space for social distancing in the Emergency Department ... and on the affected wards"
had contributed to the transmission of COVID-19 infections among vulnerable patients during the pandemic. It stated:
"Wards have few single rooms, with only some having en-suite facilities"
and that there are insufficient ventilation, toilet and shower facilities. The Health Department's capital budgets are stretched — there is no denying that — but this investment is becoming critical. Redevelopment is essential to enhance the staff's working environment and to improve not just the patient experience but patient safety and our ability to enhance capacity to assist with tackling hospital waiting lists. There is no doubt, as other Members have said, that Craigavon Area Hospital has a pivotal role to play in the wider context of healthcare transformation. The development needs to be seen in the context of the Department's wider ambitions and the wider infrastructure of the area. We had an Adjournment debate last week, which was secured by Mr Beattie, to discuss some of the infrastructure challenges in the area surrounding the hospital. I would be interested to hear, in this debate, the Minister's views on those issues. In the debate last week, we heard from the Infrastructure Minister. There is also no doubt that we must revamp and reform the Executive's approach to capital projects by acting on the Audit Office's recommendations about procurement; by ensuring that there is sufficient planning and funding in place for the lifetime of the projects once they commence; and, crucially, by ensuring that there is stable government and oversight of those projects and investments once they have been committed to. We have seen delays play out in a number of areas: pseudomonas presented in the new maternity hospital; a new mental health inpatient centre required substantial investment for repairs, despite only opening its doors in 2019; and a new children's hospital, which was given the go-ahead this year, is now 17 years behind schedule. Those delays lead to rising costs and constrain our ability to deliver capital investment. The children's hospital, which was originally estimated to cost £250 million, is now estimated to cost £671 million, and it is not beyond the realms of possibility that the cost will inflate further over the lifetime of the project. Not only do the delays cause additional costs but they damage the patient experience and staff morale when promises are made but staff are subsequently required to work with crumbling infrastructure and out-of-date equipment. Our constituents deserve the best facilities for inpatient care, and our health staff deserve the best possible working environment. Therefore, I support the call to advance plans for Craigavon Area Hospital as soon as possible, so that we can get on with the job of delivery. I look forward to the Minister's response to the debate.

786 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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