Children's Hospital staff conflict 'reduced services and created risk to service's sustainability'

As the Belfast Trust continues to try to resolve tensions within its cardiac surgery unit, UTV can reveal that conflict within another medical team had a serious impact on the delivery of some paediatric services within the Children's Hospital in 2024.

A mediation team had to be brought in when relationships amongst some staff within the paediatric gastroenterology team broke down, "creating a risk to the service's sustainability and reduction in services." Last week, the Department of Health issued a number of recommendations for the Belfast Trust to help resolve issues of conflict, bullying and poor behaviour.

The Health Minister says he is hoping to be able to lift some of the oversight measures imposed on the Trust in June "sooner rather than later."

The Belfast Trust is trying to rebuild the confidence of staff, patients and the public - confidence that was badly damaged by a culture of bullying, conflict and toxic behaviour.

The Department of Health imposed the highest level of departmental intervention on the Belfast Trust in June, when the findings of a damning review into bullying and poor behaviour amongst some surgeons within the cardiac surgery unit at the Royal Victoria Hospital, was made public by UTV.

We can now reveal that concerns about the impact poor relations amongst some team members was having on the service were flagged up with the Public Health Agency, the Belfast Trust’s Medical Director’s Office and the department's permanent secretary several months before in a cardiac surgery risk register.

The Belfast Trust document dated 19th February 2025, warned of a “risk to the delivery of the full range of cardiac surgical services”.

The register obtained under Freedom of Information said this was “due to the unexpected unavailability of a number of cardiac surgeons and acute interpersonal relationship issues which were affecting the daily delivery of service".However, the cardiac surgery service was not the only area of the Trust to be impacted by team conflict. Another risk register, this time for Child Health, was drawn up in March 2024.

It warned that the paediatric gastroenterology team in the Children’s Hospital was facing “significant workforce pressures related to team conflict and staff shortages” and that had “created a risk to the service’s sustainability and a reduction in the services available.”

A spokesperson for the Belfast Trust said no further issues related to conflict in that team were documented in the first 6 months of 2025.The Belfast Trust’s new chief executive Jennifer Welsh has vowed to act immediately "to build a workplace that is a safe and supportive environment for all."

In a statement, she said: "The recommendations from the McBride/Hill report are a further and important next step in responding to the support and interventions from Minister Nesbitt."

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: "Patients deserve to be treated with compassion, civility and with professionalism. By and large that happens on a daily basis across health and social care but where it doesn't happen, it is my duty to make sure the right interventions are put in place."Mr Nesbitt is hoping to be in a position to soon downgrade the current oversight measures but that will depend on how quickly the Trust can begin to repair relationships.

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