Edinburgh eye hospital campaigners demonstrate at Holyrood ahead of Scottish Budget

First Minister John Swinney has said the NHS will be a top priority in the spending plans to be announced by Finance Secretary Shona Robison at Holyrood this afternoon.

Campaigners from KEEP were joined by Lothian MSPs outside the Scottish Parliament | supplied

And yesterday Lothian MSPs from across the political spectrum joined forces with the Keep Edinburgh Eye Pavilion (KEEP) campaign to press the case for funding for the new hospital to replace the current Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, which was declared not fit for purpose in 2014.

The Scottish Government agreed to a replacement hospital, to be built at the Royal Infirmary campus at Little France, in 2018 but then cancelled the project. A outcry from patients, the public, medical professionals and politicians forced a U-turn in 2021, but the plans were put on hold after a two-year freeze on major projects in last year’s Scottish Budget.

And in September this year NHS Lothian announced that the Eye Pavilion would close for six months to allow urgent repair work to be carried out to the plumbing system.

Lothian Tory MSP Miles Briggs said: “If SNP Ministers give the green light for a new Eye Hospital in the Scottish Budget it will be the third time we have been in such a position – it is clear that poor leadership and decision making has resulted in the situation we find ourselves with a hospital closed for emergency repairs and the unknown future of a new hospital which is desperately needed.

“It is coming on 10 years since the hospital was deemed unfit for purpose and we have no concrete plans for a replacement hospital to be delivered.

“I will continue to fight alongside the campaigners for a new hospital which is desperately needed and must be delivered – residents across Lothian deserve nothing less.

“Ophthalmology waiting times across the South East of Scotland have suffered over this period, without a properly functioning hospital building, to deliver services.

“Funding for a replacement hospital has been promised, taken away and now paused, leading to uncertainty on when a new hospital will be built.

“The Scottish Budget is an opportunity for SNP Ministers to finally commit to a new Princess Alexandra Edinburgh Eye Pavilion, after six years of inaction.”