Edinburgh's new Sick Kids hospital won't fully open for another year

The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh will not fully open for at least another year, the Health Secretary has said.

The facility at Little France had been due to take over from the current facility in Sciennes Road last July, until last-ditch checks revealed problems with the ventilation system.

Two reports which look into what went wrong with the £150million project have now been published.

One from KPMG blames an error in a document produced by NHS Lothian at the tender stage in 2012 for the issue - adding that opportunities to spot it and fix it were missed.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: "I would like to acknowledge the contribution of staff who have continued to provide high quality clinical services.

"We are all very grateful for their dedication and professionalism in what have been very difficult and disappointing circumstances.

“I also want to thank the patients and families affected for their patience. The safest possible care of their children is my overriding priority and I am sorry for any impact the current situation has had on them.

“I am of course bitterly disappointed that a mistake made in 2012 was not picked up earlier. This is a publicly funded project of strategic importance, which has not been delivered by NHS Lothian in compliance with the standards and guidance.

"The delay we now face will be borne by NHS Lothian staff, by patients and their families and the additional cost will be to the public purse.

“My overriding priority is that the children and families who depend on these hospital services can receive them in the safest way possible. The current situation is not one anyone would chose – but it is one I am determined to resolve."

In a statement to Holyrood, she said she expects the full move to the new hospital to take place in the autumn of 2020 - after the department of clinical neuroscience moves in the Spring.

Ms Freeman added the remedial costs would likely total £16million.

Tim Davison, Chief Executive of NHS Lothian, said: “I know this is a difficult time for staff and patients and I apologise for the extended delay. I would like to thank our teams for all of their hard work and dedication throughout.

“We accept the findings of the KPMG report in full. We have also produced a detailed action plan in response to the NHS National Services Scotland report and work is already well underway to implement it.

“We will continue to work constructively with Scottish Government to progress towards opening as soon as possible."

Scottish Conservative shadow health secretary Miles Briggs said: “This confirms that patients and their families will have had to wait nearly a decade longer than promised for this much-needed hospital.

“On top of that, the taxpayer will have to fork out more than £30 million between now and next autumn to compensate for these catastrophic failings.

“Staff and families alike will also be sceptical about whether this hospital will be open by next autumn.

“They’ve been promised – year after year – that new timescales will be adhered to, and they’ve been repeatedly let down.

“All over the world new hospitals are built and delivered on time and on budget.

“Yet under the SNP, from the very outset, this project has been a farce.

“As a result, thousands of young and vulnerable patients from across Scotland will suffer.

“The scandal surrounding the construction of the new Sick Kids hospital has come to symbolise this SNP government’s incompetence and mismanagement of our NHS."

Scottish Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Monica Lennon MSP, said: “The delays to the opening of the new children’s hospital have been a disaster, but we are still no clearer on where the responsibility lies.

“This fiasco has already cost the taxpayer millions, and caused unneeded stress for the children, their families and NHS staff.

“It’s time for the Health Secretary to open the fiasco up to scrutiny and agree to a full blown independent public inquiry to get to the bottom of this mess."

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP said:

“It is shocking that the brand new Sick Kids hospital won’t be open to patients for at least another year. Millions and millions of pounds are being chucked down the drain because this project has been so badly mismanaged. While repairs are underway, children will have to receive treatment in existing facilities which are past their sell-by date.

“We have now discovered that the root of this fiasco is a catastrophic flaw in the hospital build instructions which was baked into the project from day one. It has rendered a brand new hospital empty for approaching 18 months.

“The Cabinet Secretary has rejected my call for a public inquiry. The government claim it is not their fault.

"If that is the case they have nothing to fear from such an inquiry. The public deserve better given this huge waste of money and time. For years the SNP Government has taken the credit for this build but now it has gone horribly wrong it is outsourcing the blame."

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