Health · Healthcare & Policy · 3 hrs ago
Funding withdrawal puts Belfast cancer centre project at risk
Northern Ireland’s Department of Health withdrew £1.5m from a project to build a haematology centre at Belfast City Hospital in Belfast.
The centre is intended for cancer patients receiving specialised treatment.
Belfast Trust says the department rejected its review of options and questioned the strength of its construction cost estimate.
The funding was meant to move about 80 staff out of the hospital area where the new unit is planned.
Trust chief executive Jennifer Welsh said finding another way to relocate them was a significant challenge and could put the project at risk.
The planned opening is now delayed by a year, to March 2031.
Health committee members warned that current conditions, including limited isolation for patients, are concerning because these patients can be highly vulnerable to infection.
The trust is exploring other ways to fund the move and has escalated the issue to the department’s permanent secretary; the department has been asked to respond.
The Department of Health withdrew £1.5m from a proposed cancer haematology centre in Belfast, putting the project at risk.
Belfast Trust chief executive Jennifer Welsh said the withdrawal followed concerns about the trust’s options appraisal and capital cost estimate.
The trust had planned to move about 80 staff at Belfast City Hospital to make room for the centre.
The project is now a year behind schedule, with its planned opening put back to March 2031.
Committee members raised concerns about conditions for vulnerable patients receiving cancer treatment at the hospital.
- Who
- The Department of Health withdrew the funding. Belfast Trust is responsible for the project.
- What
- The department took back £1.5m allocated to move staff for a proposed haematology centre.
- When
- The withdrawal was reported at a Stormont health committee session on Thursday. The article was published on 22 October 2026.
- Where
- Belfast City Hospital, Belfast.
- Why
- The department was not satisfied with the trust’s options appraisal and challenged the robustness of its capital cost estimate.
Belfast Trust
Department of Health
Funding
Belfast Trust
The trust said the withdrawal of £1.5m creates a significant issue and potentially poses a substantial risk to the project.
Department of Health
The department withdrew the funding after reviewing the proposal, citing concerns about the options appraisal and capital cost estimate.
Project assessment
Belfast Trust
The trust is exploring ways to fund the relocation of about 80 staff.
Department of Health
The department was not satisfied with the trust’s options appraisal and challenged the robustness of the capital cost estimate.
Trust officials told Stormont’s health committee that the Department of Health had withdrawn £1.5m from the project.
The centre’s planned opening was put back by a year to March 2031.
- Funding withdrawn
- £1.5m
- Staff to be relocated
- Approximately 80
- Hospital
- Belfast City Hospital
- Revised planned opening
- March 2031
- Schedule delay
- One year
What people are saying
The relocation of approximately 80 staff remains a challenge.
This was seen as something of significant hope for cancer patients in Northern Ireland.
We are talking about very vulnerable patients - severely immuno-compromised...