Q. (Ms Ramsay) If the neonatal service is withdrawn from the Jubilee Maternity Hospital, what impact will that have?

A. Approximately 30% of mothers with high-risk pregnancies will have to be transferred to the Royal Maternity Hospital (RMH) with the resulting impact on junior doctors and midwives. There may however be some unexpected high risk births with no specialists on site to deliver care after the end of January 2000.

Q. (Mr McFarland) I understand that the problem is that training cannot be undertaken on a split site and that a decision has now been taken to move all neonatologists to the RMH. Is there no longer the interim option to retain both hospitals in the meantime?

A. As a result of the decision by the Royal College of Paediatricians to withdraw training accreditation the status quo has changed from that included in the consultation document.

Q. (Mr McFarland) Would a new build maternity hospital and the new cancer centre fit on to the BCH site?

A. The BCH site could cope with both and it is felt that transport, accessibility and parking is better on the BCH site.

Q. (Ms Hanna) How many babies have to be urgently transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children (RBHSC)?

A. None until they are stabilised. Then approximately 1% are transferred but not as emergencies. Not all treatment is carried out at RBHSC, some babies have to be transferred to Birmingham for specialist treatment.

Q. (Dr Hendron) What are the Perinatal Mortality Rates in Northern Ireland?

A. Mortality rates for mothers are 5 per 100,000 and 6 or 7 per 1,000 for babies. Northern Ireland is more or less average in comparison with the rest of the United Kingdom.

Q. (Mrs Carson) I understand that the new maternity hospital will be a regional facility: can the BCH site cope with all the extra traffic in view of the fact that people will be coming from all over Northern Ireland? We appear to only be considering two of the hospitals in Belfast. What is the bigger picture in Belfast and, indeed, in the whole of Northern Ireland?

A. Very few sick babies will need to be brought to the regional centre. Antrim, Craigavon and Altnagelvin Hospitals can provide the care for all but the most specialised cases. The bigger picture does however need to be considered.

Q. (Mrs Armitage) Mothers need to have confidence in their maternity hospital: what will happen to women who are not prepared to go to the RMH? Is there not an option for both to remain open in the meantime, however long that will be?

A. The EHSSB did not address the issue of which site was preferable because they felt that the decision was political. The BCH site should be chosen because of the facilities available on site. The Jubilee Maternity Hospital should not be closed until a final decision is made on where the new hospital will be sited.

Q. (Mr Kelly) Why do paediatricians appear to have so much power, not only in Belfast but in other hospitals?

A. Doctors should be prepared to travel to where the mother or baby who needs care is.

Q. (Mrs Robinson) Was the McKenna report impartial and fair?

A. Dr McKenna was looking at purely clinical standards.

Q. (Mrs Robinson) How many births are there at the Mater Hospital each year?

A. Approximately 1,000.

Q. (Mr Berry) Do you have evidence of the number of babies who die while being transported?

A. None have died in the last 18 years. If a specialist stabilises the baby it will not die as a consequence of its being transported to the RBHSC.