‘No deliberate wrongdoing’: MOH responds after AGO flags lapses in National Cancer Centre project
The Ministry of Health (MOH) says there was “no indication of deliberate wrongdoing” by the team behind the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) building project, despite governance lapses highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Office (AGO) report.
In a statement issued on July 15, MOH said it takes the findings “very seriously” and has introduced corrective measures to prevent similar lapses from recurring.
“Importantly, we would like to emphasise that the project team carried out their work in good faith and there was no indication of deliberate wrongdoing.”
MOH’s statement comes after the Auditor-General’s Office flagged lapses in the development of the National Cancer Centre Singapore in its latest audit report on July 15.
The NCCS building, which was completed in 2022, was developed to address an urgent shortage in Singapore’s cancer treatment capacity. MOH Holdings (MOHH) acted as the development agent for the project.
The NCCS building, which was completed in 2022, was developed to address an urgent shortage in Singapore’s cancer treatment capacity. MOH Holdings (MOHH) acted as the development agent for the project.
What did the AGO find?
According to MOH, the AGO highlighted several lapses involving approvals, financial governance and contract management.
These included:
- MOH funding items that had been rejected or reduced by the Development Planning Committee (DPC). MOH said this resulted from its misinterpretation of guidance from the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
- Calling and awarding tenders before obtaining DPC approval. MOH said this was done to obtain detailed cost estimates for its submission to the committee.
- The AGO found that undeclared project savings were used to fund additional works. MOH said the savings resulted from lower tender prices and were used for projects including a pedestrian link bridge linking NCCS to Outram Park MRT station.
MOH said it has since revised its procedures and will seek explicit approval from MOF before calling tenders ahead of project approval in future.
Police report lodged over possible irregularities
Separately, the AGO found that consultants had not properly assessed the costs of certain “star rate” items using independent quotations, creating a risk of irregularities.
MOHH said it has lodged a police report over the matter.
MOH and MOHH said they take any falsification of documents seriously and will introduce digital tools to verify quotations, strengthen internal audits and continue staff training on procurement and contract management.
Contract management to be strengthened
MOHH also acknowledged an earlier error involving a formula presented to a committee for calculating additional consultancy fees.
However, it said consultancy fees were ultimately calculated using the correct formula and there was no overpayment of those consultancy fees.
It added that all affected variation costs will be reassessed by December 2026 and any overpayments recovered, if necessary.
An internal audit of the variation works will also be carried out before the project’s final accounts are reissued.
MOH said it will continue working with MOHH to strengthen governance, contract management and oversight across future healthcare infrastructure projects.
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