Serious questions must be asked after another NHS delay

Another week and more bad headlines for our under-pressure health service.

This time the crisis involves the new Edinburgh Sick Children’s Hospital which was due to open to much fanfare this week.

Instead, boxes remain unpacked and patients will stay where they are after its new ventilation system failed last-minute safety checks.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman was left with little choice but to halt the move for what now could be months.

After all, patient safety should always come first and no one wants a repeat of the tragedies that happened at the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.

Serious and detailed questions now need to be asked about how the Scottish Government and health boards manage new building projects.

Indeed, such questions should go further given that it’s not so long since Edinburgh’s new schools were at the centre of huge concerns relating to health and safety.

In this current case, though, it is vital that once all investigations are complete, the public is told where the failings lie and which individuals were responsible.

They must be made accountable. After all, it is simply astounding that a multi-million-pound project can get so far down the line without anyone apparently spotting that a key part of the fabric of the building didn’t meet national standards.

Clearly, the management surrounding such large-scale and expensive projects, which everyone would admit can be complex, isn’t working and must change for the future.

These are developments that ultimately impact directly on people’s lives and on taxpayers in terms of wasted money.

There can be no room for mistakes.