New Southern General hospital faces being 'Glasgow Holyrood' after delay treatment

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 20:47

DELAYS to the largest and most expensive hospital campus in Scotland have left the project in danger of becoming "Glasgow's Holyrood," an MSP warned yesterday.

Work to replace the Southern General hospital with a new 842 million campus will now not be fully completed until 2016, two years behind the initial completion date.

The Conservatives have warned that it is "only a matter of time" before the scheme goes overbudget and accused the Scottish Government of failing to "learn the lessons of Holyrood".

Patient groups, meanwhile, have said the delay points to "flaws" in the original plans, which will overhaul acute services throughout the city.

The change to the timetable for the hospital's completion emerged in a parliamentary answer to the Tory MSP for West of Scotland, Jackson Carlaw.

In her written response, health secretary Nicola Sturgeon said redesigns had pushed back the completion date from the initial timeframe of July 2014, announced last May. She emphasised, however, that the initiative remained on budget.

Mr Carlaw said: "The history of publicly financed building projects is not a happy one, with the Holyrood money pit being perhaps the most infamous example. The building of a new Southern General was only announced last year, but already we find that the timeline has slipped.

What price the new Southern General becoming Glasgow's very own Holyrood?"

Jackie Baillie, Labour's health spokeswoman, said: "The SNP announced the building of the new Southern General with a great fanfare but that boast is now starting to look very hollow. This project needs to get back on track."

Liberal Democrat MSP for Glasgow, Robert Brown, said the slippage was "atrocious".

In her reply to Mr Carlaw, Ms Sturgeon wrote: "An additional stage has been developed since the completion of the outline business case.

"This stage involves the demolition of the old surgical block and associated buildings, and completion of soft landscaping areas to complete the central park area, and will finish in the summer of 2016."

The existing surgical block was the centre of damning reports earlier this year after problems with the heating system saw staff forced to hand out extra blankets to patients.

The flagship new South Glasgow Hospital Campus is expected to treat around 110,000 patients every year, and will be built on the site of the existing Southern General.

With one of the largest emergency departments in the country, it will boast 1,109 beds in single-room accommodation and 20 operating theatres.

Plans released earlier this month showed the sick children's unit will even have a covered rooftop theatre and an in-house cinema.

As well as overhauling healthcare provision in Glasgow, the project is envisaged as a crucial catalyst for wider social regeneration in the Govan area.

Dr Jean Turner, chief executive of the Scottish Patients Association, said: "It's very unfortunate that there's going to be a delay, but it's not surprising."