Edinburgh's new eye hospital: Project now seems to be 'on hold' say campaigning patients

Replacement for Edinburgh’s Eye Pavilion delayed by Scottish Government review of ‘funding and sequencing’

Edinburgh's promised new eye hospital is now "on hold", campaigners have said, after health bosses sent an update on the project to patients and interested parties.

The Evening News reported last week how an NHS Lothian source had said the replacement for the Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion was “under threat again” because of uncertainty over Scottish Government funding. And the health board confirmed that while both it and the government remained committed to the project, it was being looked at as part of a wider government review.

Now an email has emerged which was sent by NHS Lothian to service users and interested organisations, saying: “Timescales for delivery will be determined in partnership with the Scottish Government following their review of funding and sequencing of a number of capital projects. Once this review is complete it will determine when it will be possible to recommence the project delivery as planned.”

An artist's impression of the new eye hospital due to be built at Little France. Campaigners say the project is 'on hold' after NHS Lothian confirmed it is part of a Scottish Government review of funding and sequencing.

Sylvia Paton, of campaign group Keep Edinburgh Eye Pavilion (KEEP), said: “We're really disappointed and angry. There is no definitive date now for even a delay, let alone completion. It would appear that the new hospital is on hold. It has been put on the back burner.”

The projected opening date for the hospital had already slipped from December 2026 to “late 2027” before the latest concerns were aired. And the email confirmed the purchase of the land for the new hospital, close to the Royal Infirmary at Little France, has still not been completed, although the original timetable envisaged agreement being reached by January 2022.

The email said: “The site acquisition remains in progress, with advanced dialogue underway to include the legal agreement to enable the site purchase to be finalised. Funding has been secured from the Scottish Government to progress the land deal and it is not impacted by the wider review that is currently underway.” Ms Paton said the land purchase was key to the project. “They can't do anything without that land, so until they get that secured they can't go ahead.”

She also voiced fears about the effect of the delays in the meantime for patients needing to use the current hospital in Chalmers Street, which was declared not fit for purpose in 2014 and is now at “high risk” of containing the type of crumbly, cheap concrete which has been linked to the collapse of a school roof in England.

She said: “We're concerned about how services can continue in a building that hasn't been fit for purpose for nine years already and now shows signs of having unsuitable material. With an ageing population and an increasing population, it will only add to waiting times. And it will also have an impact on the services they can provide. The longer this goes on, the more likely services are to suffer.”

Approval in principle for a new eye hospital was agreed in 2018, but the Scottish Government withdrew funding from the project in December 2020 and proposed spreading ophthalmic services across Lothian. That sparked an outcry from the public, politicians and professionals. The then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon performed a U-turn during the 2021 Holyrood election, pledging the new hospital would be funded after all. Her successor Humza Yousaf has also committed to delivering the hospital.

Ms Paton said: “We absolutely need that hospital. What we don’t need is for them to say ‘It’s not going to be practical so we’ll just go back to Plan A and disperse everything with a small unit out at St John’s, Livingston. We got them to backtrack from that for a very good reason – blind folk coming from outlying areas coming into Edinburgh would struggle to find their way out there and not every blind person has somebody they can rely on to take them from A to B.”

NHS Lothian said they did not want to add to their previous statement.