New Royal Hospital for Sick Children faces further delays

The opening of Edinburgh's £150 million new Sick Kids Hospital is facing further delays after failing to meet the required standards.
The new Sick Kids hospital has been delayed further.The new Sick Kids hospital has been delayed further.
The new Sick Kids hospital has been delayed further.

An independent assessor has deemed the hospital is not up to scratch after failing to meet all the required specifications with a number of issues still to be resolved.

It is understood staff have been told there is still no completion date set.

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Contractors were expected to hand over the building to the NHS at the end of last month.

It is the latest in a catalogue of setbacks for the facility, which was originally due to open in the winter of 2012.

The new hospital has experienced a catalogue of problems which has pushed back the opening date until this autumn.

A protracted land swap deal held up proceedings before other problems occurred including partner firms running into financial difficulties and poor winter weather further hindered building work and pushed back the opening date from May to autumn.

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It is understood the project director emailed staff to say there was still no date for its completion and it would open only when ready.

NHS Lothian has said it is working with partners to ensure the outstanding work would be completed “as a matter of urgency”.

Jim Crombie, NHS Lothian’s deputy chief executive, said: “The handover is subject to a satisfactory inspection by Arcadis UK, the independent tester whose role is to determine whether the building meets the specification commissioned by NHS Lothian.

“Following their recent inspection the independent tester has now reported they are unable to sign off the building as complete, finding that it does not yet meet all the required specifications.

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“We are naturally very disappointed and are liaising with our contractual partner IHSL ltd and their building contractors, Multiplex, to agree a timeline for completion of the outstanding works as a matter of urgency.

“Patients, their families and our staff can be assured of our determination to ensure delivery of the world class facility they deserve.

“We know all concerned will share our disappointment at a further delay and we thank them for their continued patience.”

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