No final figure on the cost of the Rooke building - Health Minister committed to making this public

The Government remains unable to provide details on the costs around the Rooke building.

In Parliament, the Minister for Health said she was committed to publishing this information but was still not in a position to do so.

 13 full time staff members will be moving from St Bernards Hospital to the new Rooke facility.  The move will free up 85 beds at the hospital.

Following questions on Health, the Minister answered questions on business.  On the Westside reclamation, and its subsequent development, she announced mobilisation had began.

The cost of the project, including the demolition of the jetty and the affordable housing is expected to cost £59 million pounds.

Parliamentarians were today thin on the ground, and where throughout the morning, the opposition outnumbered the Government. 

Questions focused on health with Mount Alvernia and the new Rooke facility on the agenda.

Health Minister Gemma Arias Vasquez said there were no plans at present on what would happen to the current Mount Alvernia building.

This, she said was a decision to be taken by the Trust and not solely by the Government.

She explained the Rooke building had been kept operational to test performance with a number of defects and issues identified and remedied by the developer.

The GHA, she said was awaiting an estimate on further works to the boundary wall but hadn't identified any further significant cost.

However she was unable to provide details on the cost of Rooke, saying she was committed to giving details but was still not in a position to do so.

We are also none the wiser as to what the foreign objects found in the eyes of children who had gone on a ride at the fair had been.

35 children had to receive treatment at A and E.

Gemma Arias-Vasquez argued the question had not specifically included what the actual foreign body had been and the specifics were not relevant to her role.

The Opposition however argued that if safety, as she'd said, was her main concern, an investigation had been carried out and the ride closed and re-opened- knowing what the source of the problem had been would have been at the heart of the investigation and an obvious piece of information the Minister should know.

On other issues the Minister confirmed patient records, including for mental health had been digitised.  She added work was ongoing for deceased patients.

Gemma Arias Vasquez claimed there are no further issues on the arrival of medication post treaty.  She said there had been issues with refrigerated products with 4 patients affected by what she termed teething issues.