Union rejects hospital contract

A £267m contract to build a new hospital in Fermanagh has been awarded to a private consortium.

The hospital will be built under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme.

However, trade union Unison has claimed this will take too much money from the Department of Health's annual budget for the next 25 years.

The Department of Health defended its decision, saying PFI is only chosen when it provides best value for money.

Patricia McKeown from the union said she had "serious concerns about the project".

"This is not a viable contract for the Private Finance Initiative, it's being built as a PFI but it doesn't meet the Treasury requirements.

"Therefore our health service is going to have to pump £23m a year into it for the next 25 years.

"It's going to have a knock-on effect to how health services are delivered, particularly in the western trust area because that money will eventually come out of the direct delivery of healthcare."

The Department of Health said in a statement there was "no substance" to the figure of £23m quoted by Unison.

It also said no payments would be made to the contractor until the hospital was completed and handed over to the trust.

"This project is expected to create in excess of 200 new construction jobs in the local area," added a spokesman.