LISTEN: Holyrood grilling over Edinburgh kids hospital delay

The Health Secretary faces a grilling over building defects delaying the opening of Edinburgh's Sick Kids Hospital.

A Holyrood committe wants Jean Freeman to take MSPs' questions in November, four months after the facility was due to open its doors.

The Scottish Government is holding an inquiry and says the hospital will not open until at least next year.

The delay is expected to come at an additional estimated cost of £16million as a result of work required on the site to address the issues raised, as well as continued operation and improvements.

In its letter, the committee requested Ms Freeman appear before MSPs on November 19th to provide further detail of how the ventilation difficulties at the hospital came to light.

Ms Freeman is asked to explain how those difficulties link to the work of the inquiry being conducted into the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.

Last week, Mary Morgan was appointed as senior programme director to oversee the "safe delivery" of the Edinburgh hospital.

Ms Morgan said: "I recognise the importance and the challenge of the task ahead, whilst acknowledging the large amount of work that has been already undertaken.

"I am looking forward to working with colleagues in NHS Lothian in order to ensure that the new site for the Royal Hospital for Children and Young People and the Department of Clinical Neurosciences is fully compliant and safe, ensuring the successful completion and move of services to the new premises."

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland wants the public inquiry announced by the Scottish Government to look into the procurement process.

Architects are telling Forth News that they should be more involved in building public facilities to avoid defects like ones delaying Edinburgh Sick Kids hospital.

An expert who gave evidence in the Edinburgh schools inquiry says cost-cutting on contracts may mean issues are overlooked.

Donald Canavan said it costs less for public bodies to leave it up to construction companies to contract their own design experts: "Independent professional design teams, if they're engaged directly by a commissioning body, the commissioning body require to pay VAT on their fees.

"If on the other hand for a new building they engage a contractor and the contractor then engages the design team, the fees are zero rated.

"In 2015 for the first time, more than 50-per-cent of architects' fees in the UK were paid by contractors, rather than having a direct link as an independent professional with the commissioning body.

"With public buildings architects are in a sense almost kept at arm's length during construction phase.

"Their time on-site is significantly reduced, their fees consequently are significantly reduced.

"When you have architects brought in piecemeal for specific and tightly defined roles, and other roles are dispensed with, while it might reduce the fees payable to architects, it leaves gaps in the process."