Senior clinicians slam NHS Lothian over hospital move plans

Senior medical staff are concerned that NHS Lothian are planning to move a vital hospital department providing lifesaving treatment to Covid-19 patients to a new site.

Clinicians criticise plans to move hospital during COVID-19 crisis.

The Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) at the Western General in Edinburgh are set to move en masse to the £150 million so-called ‘ghost hospital’ at Little France in May.

The decision has been met with incredulity by clinicians who say it comes at a time of “immense stress” with the DCN staff in the frontline of providing round-the-clock care to coronavirus patients in the intensive treatment unit (ITU).

A staff member said: “How on earth can you interrupt a fluid pandemic outbreak in favour of a move to a new hospital, staff have no navigation in a new hospital.

“It’s like being on Ben Nevis in a white out with a compass and then you lose it and then you die.”

The new Royal Hospital for Children and Young People in Edinburgh which will also be home to the DCN, was due to open last July but Health Secretary Jeane Freeman pulled the plug just hours before opening - after it was found the ventilation system in critical care did not meet national standards.

She also demanded further checks on other aspects of the building particularly the water supply, ventilation and drainage.

At present the DCN has around 60 patients and upwards of 300 staff.

A DCN staff member, added: “We need to focus on this pandemic not a distraction of this magnitude, it is incomprehensible that thoughts are on the move to the new building.

"The stress we are under is immense. How in the world can we move hospitals safely?

“We need the vital staff here at DCN and in ITU not half way accross the city with removal teams.

“This move would be during or after the peak of covid-19 whereby the uncertainty is worrying when we look at Italy as the model that the UK may follow.”

NHS Lothian said the plan was to move the DCN during the week commencing 25th May, subject to assessment of progress of the works involved, with a final decision made on April 9 to allow six weeks’ notice of the move.

Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, NHS Lothian said: “Staff have been fully involved in developing the plans and timeline for the potential move of DCN. It is also worth noting that routine clinics, scans and surgery are not now taking place during this period due to Covid-19.

“This removes some of the logistical hurdles involved in any service move, making it even easier to achieve. Staff are very positive and highly motivated to move.

“If there is any individual who has a concern we would urge them to raise it with their line manager so that it can be addressed”.

Unison Branch branch secretary, Tom Waterson said he was “surprised” by the decision to move the DCN to the new site which is empty to patients but has 137 staff including a project team, catering and hospital porters working there.

He said: “My view is we should have opened the new Sick Kids to assist with the Covid-19 efforts or we should have closed it so the 137 staff who are currently in there could be used elsewhere.

“I think it’s quite right that we’re taking over private hospitals like Spire Murrayfield but we’ve got a massive new hospital on our doorstep and we should be looking to use that in the current emergency.”

Scottish Conservatives, health spokesperson, Miles Briggs said: “I have raised concerns directly with Jeane Freeman and have been given a reassurance that NHS Lothian will be able to continue to prioritise the work to move the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) and complete works at the new Sick Kids without impacting on the Covid-19 outbreak.

“It is vital that during this challenging period all steps are taken to support our frontline staff and that we are able to keep our NHS and health services moving forward.”