THE inquiry into Hyponatraemia related deaths of children and the events that followed the death of 17 month old Lucy Crawford from Letterbreen has cost almost £15 million.
The Stormont MLA who obtained the costs has said that it’s time the Crawford family got answers.
TUV leader Jim Allister told The Impartial Reporter: “In 2013 the inquiry heard evidence relating to Lucy’s death even though her parents had asked for her death to be removed from the inquiry. It is time that we finally got answers,” he said. 
It’s 12 years since the inquiry was set up by then direct rule Health Minister Angela Smith who earlier this year said she was “worried and concerned that the inquiry’s report has not been published yet.”
Speaking to The Detail website, Ms Smith, now known as the Baroness of Basildon, said: “I am surprised and disappointed it is taking so long to report. The purpose of such an inquiry is to ensure that lessons are learned and 12 years is a very long time.
“It must be very distressing for the families who are still waiting for the findings of this report and I would hope that it can be published as soon as possible. I would also call on the final report to explain the delay in publication.”
Lucy died in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children in April 2000 after being transferred from the Erne Hospital following treatment for a stomach bug.
The toddler’s family was initially told the incorrect cause of her death and it was not until 2004 that an inquest discovered that a condition called hyponatraemia, caused by fluid mismanagement, was the real reason. 
At the request of her family, the inquiry has not investigated the circumstances of Lucy’s death but did look into what extent there was a failure to learn lessons from her death. 
In June 2001, another child Raychel Ferguson, died after the mismanagement of her drip at the Altnagelvin Hospital in Londonderry.
The oral hearings into the deaths of children including nine year old Raychel, four year old Adam Strain and nine year old Claire Roberts were investigated by a public inquiry under the chairmanship of Justice John O’Hara, QC. Mr. O’Hara also looked at issues around the treatment of 15 year old Conor Mitchell who also died from the condition.
But this week it emerged that millions have been spent on the report that has yet to be published.
Mr. Allister obtained the figures from Health Minister Michelle O’Neill who revealed that from its inception in 2004 until September 2016 the inquiry into Hyponatraemia related deaths (IHRD) has spent a total of some £13 million. In addition, her Department and the Health and Social Care Board incurred legal costs of approximately £750,000 while the Belfast, Southern and Western Trusts collectively incurred legal costs of just under £1 million.
Minister O’Neill said: “The IHRD has been subject to a number of delays which have impacted on lifetime cost; work was suspended between July 2005 and May 2008 while related police investigations were being conducted; another more recent delaying factor has been the substantial volume of evidence submitted.”
But Mr. Allister has told this newspaper that “inordinate delays” have been compounded by the extortionate cost “something I am now seeking an explanation for and breakdown. Families have been promised a final report but the deadline has repeatedly slipped. It is, of course, important that we get full answers on what has been learned from these tragic deaths but given the passage of time it seems reasonable to expect that those answers should now be forthcoming.”