Cost of Livingston treatment centre 'more than doubles' and Edinburgh's new eye hospital up too

Edinburgh’s new eye hospital cost rises too

The cost of two major hospital projects in the Lothians is reported to have soared.

The new National Treatment Centre (NTC) to be built at St John’s Hospital, Livingston, has more than doubled in price, according to the BBC. The facility, intended to tackle the waiting list backlog for elective surgery such as hip replacements, was originally costed at £70.9 million, but the BBC reports that estimates now suggest it will cost £184m. Meanwhile the estimated cost of Edinburgh’s new eye hospital, planned for a site next to the Royal Infirmary at Little France, is also said to have jumped from £112.5m to £123m.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a new network of elective treatment centres to carry out hip, knee and cataract operations at the SNP conference in 2015. Ten sites across the country are meant to be delivering at least 40,000 procedures a year by 2026. The BBC says a full business case for the Livingston NTC is due to be submitted next year, while one for the new eye hospital will go to Scottish ministers in 2025. Both sites have a projected operational date of 2027.

A new elective treatment centre is to be built at St John's Hospital, Livingston. Picture: Ian Georgeson

The Scottish Government agreed in principle to a replacement for Edinburgh’s ageing Royal Alexandra Eye Pavilion in 2018, but withdrew funding in December 2020. An outcry from the public and medical professionals resulted in a U-turn and a promise of funding during the 2021 Scottish Parliament elections. A timetable of "key milestones" circulated to staff in September 2021 showed a scheduled completion date of September 2026 with the hospital becoming "operational" in December 2026. But in April 2022 an update put the operational date a full six months later at June 2027. And in November 2022 health chiefs said they expected the new hospital would be ready to open to the public in late 2027.

Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs said it was vital for patients not just in Lothian, but the whole South East of Scotland, that the replacement for the Eye Pavilion was delivered on time. “We need assurances from SNP Ministers that the a new eye pavilion will be delivered, despite the projected cost increase. Having an outdated eye pavilion has had a significant impact on ophthalmology waiting times, with waits for routine treatments far higher than they have been in the past.

“It is disappointing that SNP Ministers decided to scrap plans to build a replacement eye hospital for £45 million in 2018. Patients waiting for eye treatments are suffering due to inaction by consecutive SNP Health Ministers. The decision to build a replacement Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion only came about because of the hard work of campaigners across Lothian to deliver a new hospital.”

Jim Crombie, deputy chief executive of NHS Lothian, said: "Until conclusion of the full business case, and agreement with the Scottish Government, cost projections and completion dates remain forecast only and dependent on a number of factors. Ongoing design developments, assurance processes and inflation are among those factors and will have an ongoing impact on cost projections in particular."