§ 11. Mr. Molyneauxasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on discussions with the Northern Health and Social Services Board on the construction of the new Antrim hospital.
§ Mr. John PattenThe Government are committed to the modernisation and rationalisation of hospital services in the northern board area. I shall have discussions shortly with the board on how best the construction of a new hospital at Antrim can be accommodated in our present spending plans.
§ Mr. MolyneauxDoes the Minister agree that expenditure on updating and carrying out temporary repairs to outdated buildings would ultimately be far more expensive and wasteful than a staged process for the new Antrim complex? Is he satisfied that the Department has taken on board the lessons learnt in the case of the city hospital, the design of which made staging impossible?
§ Mr. PattenI shall answer the hon. Gentleman's three questions. The answer to the third is yes. Secondly, I agree with him about the desirability of looking at staged building plans for the hospital. Thirdly, we are intent on learning all the lessons that we can from some of the rather long drawn-out building sagas for hospitals in Northern Ireland.